You Love Me, You Love Me Not
by Sweet Little Darling
Summary: AU/AH. Elijah Mikaelson is a respected lawyer at his family's law firm who is nursing a broken heart. Katherine Pierce is a spoiled, out of control party girl who is used to getting her way. Through a series of events they agree to be married for at least a year. Let's just hope they can survive each other. Kalijah. Rewritten.
1. The Mikaelsons and the Pierces

Hey, guys! A lot of you read my original version of You Love Me, You Love Me Not and a few days ago I was re-reading it and I was unhappy with it so I decided to re write it and make it a little bit longer. Hope you guys don't mind.

So to old readers I hope you like the revise version and to new readers welcome :)

Enjoy!

Much love,

Sweet Little Darling

* * *

**1. The Mikaelsons and the Pierces**

The Mikaelson family could trace their ancestors through generations (they were originally from Europe) but truthfully they hadn't change that much too actually make a difference. Everything was very cookie cutter for that family and everything was supposed to be perfect, no scandals, no embarrassing secrets, everything down to a science.

This was basically the schedule: succeed in school, go to an Ivy League college, join the family law firm (one of the most well know law practices in the west coast, Mikaelsons' Law Firm) find the perfect girl/ boy from a good family, marry them, have a few kids. Rinse and repeat.

The newest generation of the family had well, unusual, not to mention unwanted changes.

The oldest sibling, Finn had ran off with a rich French heiress name Sage to Paris when he was twenty and Mikael, the head of the family could barely stand looking at him without almost strangling him.

The second oldest Elijah was the only one that had followed the proper Mikaelson footsteps so to speak and the apple of his parents' eyes. Polite, well spoken, a gentleman. Graduated with honors from high school, got accepted into Yale and Yale Law, and was now a lawyer specialized in family law in his father's law firm. In short, not a single perfect feather ruffled.

Then there was Klaus or he-who-shall-not-be named and Mikael's least favorite son and currently attending the Rhode Island school of design.

After Klaus there was Kol who had just turned twenty one and was going to UCLA to become a doctor but spended more time sleeping and partying than attending class.

And last but not least the baby of the family, Rebekah also attending UCLA and currently in her sophomore year and getting a drama major.

In short there were an interesting bunch.

* * *

Katherine Pierce however was a different story. There was nothing boring or predictable about her. That was her twin, Elena. Elena Pierce was the good girl and the good twin who would be the next psychologist in the family and who had the perfect boyfriend, Stefan Salvatore.

Katherine was the bad twin and the black sheep of the family, she just didn't fit in anywhere. Her mother Jenna was a stay at home mom who planned charity events and went shopping seven days a week, her father Alaric was a great businessman who owned several large department stores called Fiore across the nation and could sell things with a blink of an eye. Everyone in her family was successful which meant that Katherine had a lot to live up to.

Especially since she had dropped out of college at nineteen, drank more than she should, had more boyfriends that shoes, and was wasting her trust fund from her parents and her inheritance money from her grandparents as if money were tissue paper.

In short she was spoiled. So what? She had all the time in the word to fix her mistakes.

-End of Chapter One-

How was it?


	2. Mr Mikaelson and Miss Kat

**2. Mr. Mikaelson and Miss Kat**

Twenty seven year old Elijah Mikaelson glanced at the clock across from his desk of his office at Mikaelson Law Firm. It was late, almost eleven in the evening and the building was empty, his father Mikael didn't spend much time there after Esther had forced him to retire after a mild heart attack.

Now the only sound was coming from the janitor who was cleaning some of the other offices.

Elijah sighed as he rummage a hand through his perfectly combed hair. He knew he should be going home soon to his apartment to get some rest, especially since he had arrived at the office at seven for a trial.

Honestly, he had all his work for today finished since six that afternoon, but he stayed behind and just eaten take out here. Elijah knew it was beyond pathetic to spend more time at his work than at his own home or doing something fun especially since he lived in Malibu, California and his own apartment was only three miles from the beach. But honestly he didn't want to go home.

His apartment was just like his office, another lonely organized room except with a television, not that he watched much television except for the news. He used to live with a woman named Tatia Petrova for two years and he actually tried to come early for her.

But ever since he found out that Tatia had been cheating on him and they had broken up he had been wanting to go back home less. Elijah was usually cool, composed, and charming but lately he had been so moody and not even his assistant, Caroline Forbes or his siblings could stand him.

What do they know about failed relationships? Elijah told himself. The closest thing either of them have come to dating is lasting more than a week with a person of the opposite sex.

In truth, the only ones who had showed that they wanted a mature relationship had been Elijah and Finn, well Elijah was currently single now, but he would rather be single than be like his baby brother Kol who chased and flirted with a new girl each week.

No, Elijah was fine like this. He liked being single. And he liked his job. Nothing was disturbing his otherwise perfect life.

* * *

"He's just so," Mikael Mikaelson searched for the right words to describe his second oldest son as he took a sip of his drink and stared at his wife, Esther across from him. "Moody, gloomy, he lost his spark ever since that Petrova woman left him, am I'm not the only one who has noticed. He lost his charm, he's like a zombie most of the time, and I don't know what kind of grandchildren we're going to end up with if we need to rely on our younger children."

"He's going through a bad breakup. You know how much he cared for Tatia." Esther tried to sooth him. "Give him time, and I've been talking to Finn, he said that he and Sage are trying to have a child-"

"Don't mention Finn!" Mikael snapped referring to his oldest child. "As for Elijah, Tatia left him six months ago! I don't want him to spend the rest of his life moping, he's twenty seven years old. He's not getting any younger. He just needs a new girl to get him off the mood that he's been in."

Esther raised an eyebrow. "Are you talking about a matchmaker? I'm sure Elijah wouldn't mind that much, he has always been a tad old fashion. . . "

"No, not a matchmaker." Mikael responded. "We could set him up ourselves in a way. Get him to meet other woman instead of being wallowed up in his office. Oh, I know doesn't your friend, what's her name Jenna have a daughter around his age?"

"She has twins, though they are a little younger than Elijah. One of them is Elena Pierce, a lovely girl who is still in college-"

"There you go, then set him up with Elena."

"She has a boyfriend." Esther snapped back as she tried remembering the other twin. "And the other is Katherine, I don't know much about her, but she's too flighty for Elijah. Too loud and wild-"

Mikael shrugged. "It might loosen Elijah up. Call Jenna, ask if Katherine can meet him. What do we have to lose?"

* * *

The nightclub, The Pink Flamingo was in full swing. The club was dark with only the occasional glowing lights and the waiters with glow in the dark pink necklaces. The dance floor was packed as well as the bar.

Twenty two year old Katherine Pierce clicked her glass against Kol Mikaelson's as they drowned their drinks in one gulp. "I win." Katherine fluttered her eyelashes at him. "What's my prize?"

"How about a kiss, kitty kat?" Kol smirked, it was obvious that he was already drunk. Kol could never hold his liquor like Katherine.

Katherine pretended to think. "Nope. You wish, though."

"Kat, can we please go now?"

Katherine turned to her twin sister, Elena who was wearing jeans and a t shirt compare to the little black dress that Katherine was wearing and was glaring at the people around her. She looked uncomfortable, which wasn't strange since Katherine doubted that her sister had ever gone to a nightclub.

"Five more minutes." She pouted, hating that her mother insisted that Elena tag along so that she could branch out a meet new people, but Katherine knew that Jenna wanted Elena to babysit her and Elena had only agreed because her boyfriend Stefan was out of town

Elena opened her mouth to argue, but Katherine ignored her and headed straight down to the opposing bar. She placed her credit card down and winked at the bar tender. "Drinks for all my friends on me."

The bartender nodded and smirked. "You've got it Pierce."

Katherine smiled as they refilled her glass. For Katherine the night was just beginning.

-End of Chapter Two-

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	3. A Date

**3. A Date**

Katherine blinked twice, feeling the hot sun on her face. She let out a groan as she rolled to her side. She hated the sun. Heck, she hated waking up after a night out. She closed her eyes, speaking of which what happened last night?

She remembered drinking a lot, her sister Elena telling her that she was leaving, she and Kol dancing half naked in a bar, being asked to leave. In short, it was a miracle that she even managed to arrive at her apartment.

She sat up slowly, feeling that she was going to throw up any minute now. Her mouth felt dry and her hair was in deep tangles and looked more like a pompom. She had kicked off her black heels and she was now only wearing a short dress that she had worn last night and it was tangled around her waist.

Lovely.

"Katherine."

Katherine sat up higher and her confusion grew even more. "Mom?" she croaked.

Her vision seemed to clear and she realize now that she was not in her own apartment like she had thought she had been, but in her old childhood room at her parents' house. Elena must have dragged her there and left, probably praying that Katherine would actually get a brain. That was more believable at least.

Jenna Pierce was standing at the edge of her room, staring in obvious disappointment at her less than brilliant daughter. She was wearing a dark purple dress and black high heels. As always Jenna looked like she was going to a party than just staying at home.

Jenna crossed her arms over her chest. "Do you remember what happened last night?"

"I," she trailed off. "Not really,"

Jenna gave a dramatic sigh. "You drink too much, obviously. Elena brought you home, Katherine you were yelling, quite loudly as well. I was so afraid that the neighbors would hear."

Katherine rolled her eyes.

Jenna returned sharply. "Katherine, you're twenty two years old, you have no college education, you barely managed to graduate from high school, you're not working, and you're wasting your money. That money is for your future."

"It's my money." Katherine said flatly. "I thought it was for me to do with it as I please."

Jenna pursed her lips. "That money is not to be wasted for shots and expensive dresses." There was an awkward silence. "Get dressed. Your father wants to talk to you."

* * *

Forty five minutes later, Katherine was dressed in dark blue jeans and a peach colored blouse. Her dark curls hung around lifelessly and her face was pale. When she was hung over she usually wasn't in the mood for anything.

"Alaric." Jenna snapped. The three of them had been sitting in Alaric's office for the past ten minutes and he hadn't bothered to look up from his computer. Katherine had a feeling that he didn't really want to talk to Katherine either. "You wanted to talk to Katherine."

Alaric looked confused for a minute. "Oh, yeah. Katherine, you remember my old friend Mikael Mikaelson, he and I went to the same college."

Katherine blinked.

"He has several children, owns the law office in downtown. Has an older son about your age, Elijah."

Elijah. That name rang a bell. When they had been teenagers their parents usually tried to put all of the "kids" together so that they could bond. She didn't remember much about Elijah other than he was stuffy and uptight and looked like he was under a lot of pressure half of the time.

"Yeah . . . I remember Elijah briefly."

"Good." Alaric looked pleased. "I just received a call from Mikael, Elijah is really eager to catch up with you."

Katherine almost burst out laughing. "Are you trying to set me up?"

"Of course not, Katherine." Jenna said quickly. "Consider this a meet and greet, your father and I are worried about you. You're twenty two years old-"

"And this isn't the fifties." She snapped. "I don't need a man to complete my life and I most certainly don't need my parents to set me up."

Alaric sighed. "It's just brunch, Kat. Two hours tops."

"I don't care if it's five minutes. I'm not going!" Katherine growled.

"Yes, you are." Jenna snarled. "Katherine, you will not embarrassed me. The Mikaelsons are an important family. It's not like Elijah is a stranger." She didn't speak for another moment. "You are going. No arguments."

* * *

"No, the light." Kol pretended to wince as Elijah pull open the curtains of the living room as his parents' home in where Kol still resided. "It's burns."

"Do you have any idea what time it is?" Elijah scolded as he watched Kol sprawled across the living room couch.

"No, Mom." Kol said sarcastically. "Don't you have your own apartment? Or do you miss living with Mommy and Daddy too much?"

Elijah ignored the jab. "I came to speak to father, not to you Kol."

"Not that I'm complaining." Kol grumbled. "Now let me sleep."

"Elijah, I thought I heard your voice." Klaus said as he came in holding a sketchpad like usual, his light hair was freshly cut. Klaus had just finished the semester at art school and he was back in California for the summer. Like Kol, he was currently residing at his parents' house, but spended most of his time outside since Mikael and him could barely look at each other without arguing. "What are you doing here?"

"Speaking to the king." Kol said sarcastically between moans.

Elijah rolled his eyes. "It's nothing, father wanted to talk to me about something. Apparently, one of his friend's daughter is at a confusing point in her life right now and he wanted me to help her figure things out-career choice that is."

Klaus snorted. "And he asked you?" Law was about as interesting as a credit card commercial.

Elijah looked offended. "What's wrong with me giving advice?"

"Nothing unless you want to bore them to death." Kol crackled. "So Mommy and Daddy want to set you up on a date?"

"It's not a date, it's just brunch."

"He's right Kol," Klaus said in fake concern. "When was the last time our proper elder brother went on something as scandalous as a date?"

Kol and Klaus burst out laughing.

"Make fun." Elijah said dryly.

"Who did our parents set you up with? Some uptight, blue blood chick who wears pearls and drinks afternoon tea?"

Elijah frowned. "Her name is Katherine . . . yes, Katherine. Katherine Pierce."

Kol gaped and almost fell off his chair. A smile curled up on his lips. "You are so screwed."

-End of Chapter Three-

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	4. Tea and Conversation

**4. Tea and Conversation**

Katherine slept over at her parents' house the night before the Brunch date with Elijah. Her parents were so nervous that Katherine was going to mess up and make a fool of herself and of her family that they were watching her as if she were an unruly child that didn't know how to behave.

The morning of the brunch, Jenna came into Katherine's old bedroom carrying a box with a bright red ribbon. "I got you a little something." She frowned when she saw that Katherine was wearing black jeans and a leather jacket. "Oh, not this again Katherine, don't you have any clothes that aren't black? People are going to think that you're Goth or something."

"I look good in black," Katherine defended herself as she took the box. "What is in it?"

"Why don't you look?"

Katherine pulled out what was inside and almost immediately regretted it. Her mother had bought her a dark blue dress that rested at her knees with a little white ribbon at the collar, a pearl necklace, and sensible Mary Jane typed heels. It looked like the sort of outfit Grandma Pierce might have worn to church.

Katherine threw it on the bed. "I'm not wearing that!"

Jenna sighed. "Please try it on, Kat for me please. Just try it on. If it doesn't look good on you, you don't have to wear it."

* * *

Half an hour later, Katherine didn't know how or why, but she was standing in the middle of the Taylor Hotel waiting for the Mikaelsons wearing that ridiculous blue dress and there wasn't even a decent store that she could buy a decent pair of clothes in.

"Stop fidgeting," Jenna scolded as she rearranged the pearls around Katherine's neck. "You look so lovely, so mature and charming-"

"-And boring and covered up." Katherine hissed. "I should have just worn my leather jeans."

"You can't wear leather jeans to a brunch date with a Mikaelson."

"Says who?" Katherine demanded.

"Will you two be quiet," Alaric whispered as he combed back his dark hair. "They're coming."

The Mikaelsons were a handsome bunch, both Esther and Mikael were tall and elegant looking, and Elijah fitted with them perfectly. He was wearing a three pierce suit, even though it was only ten in the morning.

"You must be, Katherine." Esther greeted her. "You look lovely."

"I don't think so, but thank you for lying." Katherine replied sweetly.

Jenna blushed red and Mikael patted Alaric on the shoulder. "She has spunk this once. Katherine, I would like you to meet our son, Elijah."

"We've meet." Katherine said as she looked at Elijah.

"Briefly." Elijah corrected. There was an amused smile playing on his lips.

"Well, we'll leave you kids to talk, how about we get going inside?" Alaric offered as both sets of parents followed him inside.

Elijah offered his arm. "May I walk you to the dining room?"

"Thanks," Katherine ignored his arm. "But I'm a big girl, I can walk inside by myself."

* * *

The restaurant inside the Taylor hotel was small, but quaint. It reminded Katherine of the kind of restaurant one might have sat it in the twenties with little glowing lamps at every table. Katherine might have enjoyed it, if it wasn't for the company.

Surprisingly, Elijah was completely unruffled by Katherine's rudeness. The parents had sat at a table a few tables away from the private one that Katherine and Elijah currently resided on.

Katherine hated to admit it, but so far Elijah was the perfect, cookie cutter gentleman. He helped her into her chair and he let her go first while ordering. Katherine hated him.

"So, Miss Pierce." Elijah asked as he watched the way that Katherine was looking at her tea as if it were the most interesting thing in the world. "Are you in college? Or have you've finished?" she looked like his sister, Rebekah's age.

"Nope," Katherine responded in a breezy tone. "I dropped out after my first semester, I never really enjoyed school I prefer going to parties." She saw the way a muscle in Elijah's face twitched. School was probably everything for a person like him. "I guess I don't have a lot of ambition, Mr. Ivy League, my twin sister Elena is the smart one."

"I'm sure you have a lot of ambition, Miss Pierce." Elijah said without missing a beat. What was with this girl? He had never meet anyone so rude. But he saw a twinkled in her eye, and Elijah could see that she was enjoying playing with him and Elijah was not to be played with. Two could play at that game.

Katherine ignored him as she stopped the waiter. "Excuse me, can I have a Bloody Mary?"

The waiter looked perplexed that someone was ordering an alcoholic drink in the middle of the morning. "Oh, sure, miss."

"I get a little thirsty in the morning," Katherine purred. "I hope you don't mind. I'm just really tired of tea."

"Not at all, I enjoy a good drink myself, Miss Pierce." He shot back.

"Katherine, call me Katherine." She winked. "So what are you a scotch man?"

"Whisky, actually." Elijah corrected as he lowered his voice. "I know why you're doing this, Miss Pierce you are trying to get under my skin, you don't want to be here and I can assure you neither do I. But I'm not going to let a spoil, little rich girl like you ruin a perfectly good morning. If you're having problems with your parents, that's your problem. But I would appreciate it, if you didn't drag me into it."

Katherine flushed. Was Elijah a mind reader or something? She hated the fact that Elijah had just treated her as if she were an idiot.

Katherine leaned back against her chair.

Elijah looked satisfied "Now there is no reason why we can't have a perfectly good meal in peace."

"You're right," Katherine said sweetly as she grabbed her tea cup that was still full of hot tea and dumped it on Elijah's expensive suit. "There's no reason at all."

-End of Chapter Four-

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	5. First Impression

**5. First Impression**

Elijah was pissed.

No, he was beyond angry. The only reason that he hadn't strangled Katherine was because she was a woman. And Elijah respected women, even if that woman was pushing every button that made Elijah snap.

He couldn't believe that she had actually spilled her tea on him. The tea had been burning hot as she had spilled it over his pants and especially over a ahem, very sensitive area. To say the least Elijah had bounced straight towards the bathroom.

He imagine much to his dismay, Katherine staying behind and laughing at the scene.

"I'm so sorry, Elijah." Alaric said as he continued handing paper towels towards Elijah. This had been the fifth time that he had apologize. He had followed Elijah into the bathroom after the little scene. "I really don't know what came over Katherine."

"It's quite all right." He said tensely.

"She's really a sweet girl, she can just be a little . . . unpredictable."

_Unpredictable, my ass, your daughter is a little vile, evil_-Elijah trailed off and forced himself to take a deep breath. "That's quite all right, Mr. Pierce. I'm sure Miss Katherine didn't mean to do it, it was an accident."

It was clear that Alaric didn't believe it either. "I know this is probably the wrong time to ask, but would you consider giving Katherine another chance?"

"No, I'm sorry Mr. Pierce." He said tensely. "But I don't think your daughter and I are suited for each other."

* * *

"How could you?" Jenna sounded closed to tears. Both she and Katherine were in the ladies' room while her father was helping Elijah clean up. Katherine ignored her mother as she fixed her dark hair. Hmm, she wondered how she would look with short hair. Nah, not her style. "Katherine, are you even listening to me?"

"Yes," Katherine said irritably. "What's the big deal? It was just one measly date. It went wrong, and we'll probably never see each other again."

Jenna's face went red like it usually did when she was terribly angry. "It's a big deal, the Mikaelson family is an important family, and we were hoping-"

"That what?" Katherine interrupted sarcastically. "That Elijah and I would get married and have dozens of children? I hate to break it to you, but this isn't the fifties. You can't control who I marry so easily."

Jenna's lips curled into disgust. "Perhaps not, but I can control your trust fund."

Katherine froze. Her parents had each set a trust fund for her and Elena and her grandparents had each given them a large sum after their deaths. Elena used it to pay for school, for Katherine it was her only source of income.

"But if you cut me off, then I will be-"

"Broke." Jenna finished for her, there was a sort of impish smile playing on her face. "I'm glad you get the picture, so please darling patch things up with Mr. Mikaelson."

* * *

Elijah entered his parents' home an hour later and much to his dismay came face to face with his younger brothers. Klaus had been showing Kol his new painting, while Kol pretended to be interested when Elijah came into the room.

Kol burst out laughing when he saw Elijah's ruined suit. "Couldn't find a bathroom brother?"

"It's tea!" he snapped at his baby brother. "She poured it on me!"

Klaus looked amused. "So I'm guessing the date didn't go well?"

"Of course it didn't." he said as if it should have been obvious. "Katherine Pierce is a little brat."

"I knew you wouldn't last."

When Elijah looked confused, Kol elaborated. "I partied with Katherine a couple of times, she's free like a bird . . . and offense you're a stick in the mud."

"Thank you very much," Elijah said dryly. "Thankfully, I won't be seeing her again."

* * *

"How was he?" Elena called Katherine that night, eager to hear about her sister's date. She couldn't remember the last time that Katherine had, had a proper date and she doubted that Katherine did too.

Katherine set down the tub of rocky road ice cream that she only ate when she was feeling particularly anxious. "Boring."

"Really? I would have thought you throwing tea at someone would be categorize under mildly interesting."

Katherine trailed off. "Who told you?"

Elena guiltily said. "Mom."

Katherine gave an irritated sigh as she put the ice cream back in the freezer. "Is she going to blab that to everyone? And you better not start scolding me too."

"I wasn't going too." Elena said gently, though Katherine could see through the lie. "So how was he?"

Katherine snorted as she pressed her cell phone against her ear with one hand and started channel surfing with the other, with the TV at low volume. "Let's just put it this way, he's an arrogant, self-conceded jerk."

"I heard from Daddy that's he's a brilliant lawyer." Elena peeped.

Katherine rolled her eyes. "What's so great about being a lawyer?"

Elena didn't speak for another moment until she said. "Was he cute at least?'

Katherine thought for a moment. "Well, he's definitely not bad to look at." She tried to get a clear picture in her head. He really did have nice brown eyes, plus a dimple on his left cheek that appeared whenever he smiled. "He has a nice smile and a dimple."

Her sister sounded amused at the other end. "Since when do you notice stuff like that?"

Katherine flushed. "I've got to go, I have to wipe this whole day from my mind. I'll talk to you later, sis."

-End of Chapter Five-


	6. An Idea

**Chapter Six: An Idea**

Katherine was staring at the ceiling of her bedroom in her apartment, she could literally hear the minutes ticking away, and they served as a reminded than unless she swallowed her pride and apologize to Elijah, she would end up homeless in the street.

Well, not exactly homeless, but she didn't want to depend on her parents either. What to do, what to do? Not even a simple party was going to fix this, heck not even alcohol was going to fix this.

She sat up and pulled out her phone, out of curiosity she typed the name, Elijah Mikaelson in the search engine.

Not a lot of information appeared, just from old school directories and random information. Elijah Mikaelson was the second child to Esther and Mikael Mikaelson . . . twenty seven years old . . . graduated with honors from Yale Law school blah, blah boring.

Katherine turned off her phone and laid back on her bed. What would make her parents believe that she was more responsible? They obviously didn't trust her and they wanted her to get in the Mikaelson's good graces.

But she doubted that Elijah would even want to look at her, let alone date her.

And then it hit her: marriage.

* * *

Elijah settled in on his leather coach in his apartment feeling very uncomfortable he didn't know if it was because he was still dressed in his work suit or if it was because he still didn't know how to handle living alone.

He wondered how other people did it, Elijah adored his privacy, but even he had to admit that it got rather boring and lonely at time. He looked into his refrigerator and found that it was empty, most of the time he ate in restaurants or ordered take out since his cooking sucked, but he was in luck there was some banana yogurt.

He was just getting a spoon when the doorbell rang, he wondered who it could be. It was probably Kol trying to get him to go to another party. However, Elijah was very surprise when he opened the door and found Katherine standing there and waiting very impatiently as if she visited all the time.

"What are you doing here?" Elijah blurted out. He hadn't see Katherine since she had dumped tea on him and he had stormed out of the hotel. He had kind of been hoping never to see her again.

Katherine raised an eyebrow and helped herself in. "Is that how you treat company? How rude, I thought you were a gentleman."

"How did you get my address?" Elijah fumbled as Katherine sat in his leather couch like she owned the place. "And I didn't ask you to come in."

"Kol, gave me your address, silly." She looked around. She wondered what it would be like to live here once she and Elijah got married. To be truthful she found his apartment a little boring, it was mostly done is shades of black and white. "Nice place, a little too emo for my tastes, but it will do."

"Katherine." He said, gritting his teeth and trying to keep his temper in control. "What. Are. You. Doing. Here? I thought both you and I never wanted to see each other again."

Katherine squirmed uncomfortably in her chair, and Elijah didn't know why, but he had a nasty feeling that she was going to ask him for a favor. "No."

"I haven't even said anything yet!" Katherine pouted.

"The answer is still no." Elijah said flatly. He knew that Katherine would probably try to play the Miss Innocent card. "Get out."

Katherine started panicking. She hadn't thought it would go this bad. "Wait, Elijah please hear me out." She hesitated before she blurted out. "Will you marry me?"

Elijah stood back up with shaky legs. "Excuse me?" he hollered. "I don't even want to date you, why on earth would I marry you?"

"Nice of you to put it gently." Katherine said sarcastically. She was starting to regret this already. "Listen-"

After Katherine had told him, her story about her parents threatening to cut her off if she didn't become more responsible, and how she thought marriage would make it seem like she was responsible Elijah was less sympathetic if that was even possible.

He could easily tell that Katherine was lazy, spoiled, and very manipulative when it came to get her own way. "No, I won't marry you." He said firmly.

"But what am I supposed to do for money?" she demanded.

"Get a job." Elijah snapped back. "I'm not your guinea pig, Katherine."

Katherine was starting to grow desperate. "Elijah, please." She pleaded, hating how pathetic she sounded. "Both of our parents want us to get along, yours are worried because you're all mopey and mine feel that I'm a loose cannon. We don't have to be married for long, just six months or maybe a year."

"Katherine." Elijah groaned. "Even if I were to agree on this plan, there are so many things than can go wrong-"

"Elijah, you're some big short lawyer right?" Katherine asked. "What if I promise you that in exchanged if you married me . . . then I'll get you some big clients, so you can sparkle the family name a little."

Elijah paused looking interested. Very interested.

Katherine took the opportunity. "Look, Elijah one year. That's all I'm asking for one year of marriage, then we divorce and never see each other again and we both get what we want."

Elijah didn't speak for a moment. "This will only stay between us, understand?" the thought of the Mikaelson family name being more well-known glimmered like a window of opportunity.

A slow smile spread on Katherine's face as she realize what he was saying. One year as Mrs. Mikaelson and then she will have everything she has always wanted. "So do we have a deal?"

Elijah offered his hand. "Oh, Miss Katherine we most definably have a deal."

-End of Chapter Six-


	7. Contract

**7. Contract**

Katherine and Elijah decided to keep things between them, at least for now. What they were doing wasn't illegal per say, but it would be very embarrassing to admit to their parents that the only reason that they got married was to get money and to get new clients for the firm.

Both Elijah and Katherine decided to tell their parents as soon as possible, the sooner they got married, the sooner they could divorce and get as far away from each other as possible.

Katherine told her parents the following afternoon, after she and Elijah had made their little deal. Her parents had been surprised to say the least, though not really angry.

"Marry?" Jenna gaped at her. "Elijah Mikaelson asked you to marry him. You?"

"Yep." Katherine nodded her head, feeling a twinge of annoyance that her mother had a hard time believing that Elijah asked to marry her. "And I have accepted."

"When did this happen?" Alaric finally asked after a while.

"When I went to apologize and we bonded, and we talked . . . and we decided that we had a lot in common." Katherine was amaze of all the lies that were coming out of her mouth. "So the next step obviously would be marriage right?"

Alaric opened his mouth to argue, but Jenna stopped him by placing a hand on his arm. "That's wonderful news, darling but are you sure that's what you want?"

Katherine nodded, biting her tongue. "It's what I always dreamed off. You support me, right Daddy?"

Alaric hesitated before he melted at the sight of Katherine's puppy dog eyes. "I can never say no to you and both you and Elijah are adults and are old enough to decide. If you want to get married, it's all right with me and your mom."

* * *

"That was fast." Katherine raised an eyebrow as she entered Elijah's apartment early the next morning, after Elijah insisted that she meet him there. She fluttered her eyelashes at him. "Couldn't wait to see me again, could you?"

Elijah snorted. "Hardly. Please sit down."

"Wow, you're actually polite now." Katherine smirked as she sat in one of the dining room chairs. "I like this Elijah better."

Elijah rolled his eyes as he placed a heavy contract in front of her. "I took the liberty of forming a contract for our little arrangement."

Katherine's eyes widened as she looked at the contract. It reminded her of a tiny bible. "Elijah, this will take me ages to read."

"I'll summarize it for you," Elijah said his voice oozing sarcasm as he handed her a pen. "Basically it states that we will be married for one year and each of us will be responsible for our own finances even when we're living together, we'll also sign a prenup of course. It states I will be receive contacts for future clients during the duration of our marriage and I will pay for the wedding in return. Sign please."

Katherine crossed her arms over her chest. "I'm not signing that."

Elijah frowned. "Why not?"

"One because I can't understand it." Katherine stood up. "And second of all because we had a mutual agreement and we don't need a stupid contract. I know my part and you know yours."

* * *

"Elijah is it true?" Kol practically shouted as he banged his hand dramatically on Elijah's desk in his office. Kol had received a quick email from his brother that he was going to marry Katherine Pierce, his former party friend.

Thinking it was a joke, Kol had hurried towards Elijah's office.

"Is what true, Kol?" Elijah murmured not bothering to look up from the contract that Katherine had refused to sign.

"That you're marrying Katherine." He tried to imagine Katherine and Elijah together, but couldn't paint an accurate enough picture.

"Yes, it's true." Elijah said finally looking up. "You did receive my email, did you not?"

Kol rolled his eyes. "Not really classy like usual, Elijah. Who announced their engagement by email?"

Elijah flushed. "Well, you and Klaus are so hard to get ahold off-"

"I don't care about that." Kol waved away the comment. "I thought you hated Katherine."

Elijah pursed his lips. "I don't hate Katherine."

"She ruined one of your precious suits, by your standards that is punishable by death."

"Kol, Katherine and I worked things out and frankly it is none of your business." Elijah snapped. He hated the fact that Kol was so nosy.

Kol looked annoyed. "Do our dear parents know?"

"Yes, I spoke with them and they were surprised but quite please as well."

Kol shook his head. "Unbelievable, if I would have gotten engaged to a girl I just meet they would have ripped my head off, but of course saint Elijah could do no wrong."

* * *

"You're getting married?" Elena didn't bother hiding her shock through the other end of the phone. "To a guy you barely meet?"

Katherine chewed on her lip as she heated water for tea. She wasn't much of a tea drinker, but she doubted that Elijah would approve of his fiancée, let alone his wife drinking at ten in the morning. So tea would have to do.

Katherine was hanging from a very thin line and she couldn't afford to make any mistakes, especially when Elijah was concern.

It was obvious that Elena had heard the news from Jenna, still Katherine had been hoping to tell her herself, but as it turned out that was not going to be possible, so Elena became yet another person who she couldn't tell the big secret to.

It might be better this way though, or at least the secret would be easier to keep if it was only between her and Elijah, still she wished that she could tell someone.

"Yep," Katherine poured some hot water inside a mug and waited for her twin to respond. "Oh, come on Elena surely me getting married to a guy isn't that strange. I was bound to get married someday."

"Katherine, you had one date with Elijah," Elena looked puzzled. "You dumped tea on the guy, I doubt that's your way of saying to a guy that you like him."

Katherine chuckled, though she was slightly growing more panicked. "Maybe it is. Besides, Elena it isn't like Elijah is a total stranger, we've meet a handful of times." Even through the phone she could tell that Elena was far from convinced. "Look, Elena this is my life . . . and I know what I feel, I want to marry Elijah, can't you just please support me?"

Guilt catching up with her, Elena softened. "Of course, you just caught me by surprised that's all. Congratulations, I'll come over as soon as I can. You must be very happy, Kat."

Katherine bit back a sigh as she took a sip of her tea. "Oh, you have no idea."

-End of Chapter Seven-

Thanks for your reviews!


	8. Rebekah

**8. Rebekah**

"I'm coming!" Elijah tried not to shout, but it was hard controlling his annoyance when the person on the other side of his apartment door didn't seem to have an ounce of respect for his property, nor his neighbors'. Elijah wouldn't doubt that it was probably Katherine again with another ridiculous demand. Especially since last time she had practically let herself in.

But Elijah was in store for a surprise when he opened the door and saw his baby sister Rebekah glaring back at him. She crossed her arms over her chest, her pink lips formed into a perfect pout. Even though she was nineteen at this moment, she reminded Elijah of a seven year old.

"Rebekah." He smiled. "What a sur-"

"Save it," Rebekah hissed as she barged into his apartment, her high heels making the annoying click click sound that Elijah hated.

It only took Elijah a moment to realize that Kol had probably babbled to Rebekah about his engagement to a girl he utterly despised. Though his siblings barely knew Katherine, Elijah doubted that Rebekah knew her though apparently that was not the case.

She put her hands on her hips and growled at Elijah. "Why the hell didn't you tell me that you were getting married and to Katherine of all people?"

"I did send you an email." Elijah said calmly.

Rebekah scowled at him to show him that the situation was far from funny. "Who sends a wedding noticed by email? And of all the girls that you could marry why did you choose Katherine Fucking Pierce."

"You know Katherine?" Elijah sounded surprised.

"Meet her once." Rebekah said bitterly. "At a party and let's just say if I see her pretty face one more time I'm going to grind it into the pavement. That girl is a bitch with a capital B."

"Well, that's going to be a little hard since you're going to be her sister in law in a few short months." Elijah said lightly. "So I would appreciate it if you were nice to her, Rebekah. I know that Katherine can be a little . . . difficult to get along with, but she is my fiancée and I am in love with her." The words sounded fake to Elijah even as he said it.

"Are you?" even Rebekah sounded doubtful. "Are you sure Katherine isn't some sort of . . . rebound for T-"

"This has nothing to do with Tatia." Elijah softened when he saw his little sister flinch. "Believe me, Katherine is nothing like Tatia. Besides Rebekah, you're too young to understand now but the marriage between Katherine and I will benefit us both."

"It's a marriage, Elijah." Rebekah said flatly. "Not a business contract."

Neither sibling said anything for a few minutes, but after a while Rebekah gave up and hugged her older brother around the waist. "I still think this is one of your worst ideas, but you're my brother and I will support you."

* * *

"Miss Forbes, can you come here for a moment?" Elijah asked his assistant for two years Caroline Forbes. Caroline appeared in his office looking slightly confused. "How would you like a different sort of job for a few months?"

"What do you mean?"

"Well, I have heard around the office that you enjoy planning parties." Elijah simply said. "And no doubt you heard that I'm going to get married. My fiancée is very shy and honestly we want to plan a small wedding, I thought it would be easier if someone closed to us would plan the wedding."

Caroline practically squealed with excitement. "Are you asking me to plan your wedding? This is probably the opportunity I've been waiting for. Don't worry, I'll make sure that everything goes perfect. Don't worry about your shy wife, I'll help her-"she broke off. "Wait, who are you marrying?"

"Katherine." Elijah said. "Katherine Pierce."

Caroline gaped. Caroline knew Katherine briefly. She was her best friend Elena's sister. Though shy was definitely not how Caroline would have described her.

"Are you sure you should be marrying Katherine if you're describing her as shy?" Caroline asked puzzled.

Elijah laughed as he watched Caroline's utterly confused expressions. "Believe me, Katherine is a different person around me."

* * *

"There you are you little she-devil."

Katherine frowned as she stopped jogging on the treadmill at the Point Ville Gym to stare at a very familiar, furious blond. Katherine had only meet her once or twice, but Rebekah was a very hard person to simply just forget.

"Excuse me?" she said as she stared at the blond. In the past the two of them had shot back very offensive remarks to each other over petty fights, but it had been months since they saw each other and she was sure that Rebekah wouldn't have bothered otherwise, so why was she talking to Katherine now?

"I know, Katherine." Rebekah said as a form of greeting. "About your engagement to my brother."

Katherine frowned. Crap, she had forgotten that Rebekah and Elijah were related and that Rebekah whether she liked it or not was destined to be her sister in law. Great.

"And you're coming to offer your congratulations?" Katherine replied icily. "You shouldn't have bothered."

"Believe me, Katherine I don't care about you." Rebekah replied coolly. "I care about my brother. My brother has been through a lot and another woman has already stomped on his heart and I'm not going to let you do the same to him again. So you hurt him and you will be dealing with me, am I making myself perfectly clear."

"Vividly." Katherine said, her brown eyes never leaving Rebekah's blue ones. "I have no desire to hurt, Elijah. I'm going to marry him, my job is to love him not to hurt him."

Rebekah narrowed her eyes. "Good, kept it that way, Pierce."

Katherine watched Rebekah walk away and she couldn't help but wonder who had hurt Elijah.

-End of Chapter Eight-


	9. The Ring

**9. The Ring**

Elijah was looking over the statements that Phillip and Claire Reynolds had faxed over to him, about what they each wanted for themselves and for their kids after the divorce settlement. Elijah loved his job, but one of the things that irritated him about practicing family law is the people in general.

Families were messy, but when you added the law, divorce, failed marriages, and kids that just ended in disaster. It was weird, Elijah being an expert in family law had long agree with himself that he would never marry and here he was doing the complete opposite.

True, he was doing it for more job opportunities, but that didn't make him any less of a hypocrite. Besides the punishment for being married to Katherine for at least a year was worse than the reward.

He chuckled to himself wondering how Katherine would react if she heard him say that. She would probably run him over with her car.

His cell phone rang and since Caroline was on her lunch break it was Elijah's duty to answer it.

"Hello?" a female voice spoke. "Is this Mikaelson's law firm, I would like to speak to Elijah Mikaelson."

"This is he speaking." Elijah said. "May I ask whose calling?"

"My name is Davina Claire." The woman said. "I'm friends with Katherine Pierce?"

"Yes, she's my fiancée." Elijah said lightly. "How can I help you Miss Claire?"

"Mrs." Davina corrected. "Now that I think about it, miss would probably be a better term. I'm divorcing my husband, Timothy and I would like you to represent me and my children during our divorce settlement. I would like to speak to you privately if I can."

"Of course." Elijah said dryly. Barely daring to believe it, how could he have gotten new clients already? "How does Monday morning at eight sound to you."

"That would be perfect." Davina announced. "I look forward to meeting you Mr. Mikaelson."

* * *

"Your accounts?" Jenna looked up from her breakfast and stared at her daughter with curiosity. It was weird enough that Katherine was up before ten in the morning, but even more weird that she had actually visited her parents. Jenna should have known it was all for money.

"Yes," Katherine said sweetly as she took a bite of her apple. "You said you were going to freeze my accounts, but you can't."

Jenna raised an eyebrow daring her to elaborate.

"I'm getting married soon." Katherine continued in her sweet tone. "Elijah is paying for the honeymoon and for the reception, but I still need my wedding gown of course, and manicures and pedicures, and the bridesmaid's dresses and those things are a necessity. So you can't cut me off now."

Jenna sighed. "I supposed not. Just used the money wisely, ok Katherine?"

* * *

"Hello, sir." A sweet looking, plump young woman greeted him eagerly as Elijah stepped into Riley's Jewelry store. "How can I help you?"

"Uh, yes." Elijah cleared his throat. "Yes, I would like an engagement ring."

The woman cocked her head. "For a woman?"

"Uh, yes for a woman."

"Oh, I'm sorry it's just with society today, you never-"she flushed. "Never mind, I'm Courtney and I would be very happy to help you. Is there any particular style of ring you have in mind?"

"Princess cut." Elijah said the first time that came into his mind. "Maybe a round diamond. I don't really know, something pretty."

Courtney nodded.

"Now do you know what size your wife's finger is?"

Elijah looked back startled. Size? Rings had sizes, but they weren't like shoes. "No, I'm afraid I don't. She has tiny hands and thin fingers." He finished awkwardly.

Courtney nodded as if this were an appropriate response. "Don't worry, if it doesn't fit her, we can adjust the size." She came back with a dozen of different rings.

Elijah honestly didn't see the difference except for the size of the diamond. They were just rings, besides Katherine would only wear one for one year ad then they would divorced. She wasn't worth the amount of lost brain cells while searching for an engagement ring.

"That one." He pointed to a simple, princess cut engagement ring with a diamond in the center and two little pink stones at the sides.

"Excellent choice." Courtney cooed as she put the ring in a white velvet box. "I'm sure she's going to love it."

* * *

"Why did you want to meet me here?" Katherine asked as she fluttered her eyelashes and put down her menu. She and Elijah were sitting at a small café. "Can't get enough of me?"

Elijah snorted back a laugh. "Hardly." He paused. "Thank you for the call that you made to your friend, Davina."

Katherine nodded, surprise. "You're welcome. So why did you want to meet?"

"It's about our engagement-"he pursed his lips.

Katherine sighed. "That again? You're not stressing already are you? I told you everything is taken care off-"

"Is not about the engagement Miss Know it All," Elijah interrupted. "I wanted to give you this."

He pulled out a white satin box and handed it to her. "Here. Does is fit?"

Curiously, she opened it and found a beautiful ring. "Oh, it's pretty." She joked. "Shouldn't you get down on one knee or something?"

"I would," Elijah replied coldly. "If you were my true bride."

"Oh," she said in a lower voice. Yes, she didn't expect Elijah to get down on one knee, but she expected some sort of reaction. It was a ring, not a piece of paper. "Yeah, it fits."

He nodded. "Good." He snapped his fingers to signalize the check.

"We're set." She snapped. "Just don't expect me to be all lovey dovey."

Katherine bit back her tongue, _it's just a business deal,_ she reminded herself, _you're not_ _supposed to feel anything and it's just a stupid ring_.

-End of Chapter Nine-


	10. The Wedding Party

**10. The Wedding Party**

Katherine couldn't stop staring at her wedding ring. She wrinkled her nose, great five minutes into her fake engagement and she was already that girl. Next thing you know she will be color coordinating the entire wedding and sending thank you notes.

Weddings, even fakes were not something that Katherine Pierce enjoyed as she was not going to start now. It was a pretty ring, she couldn't help but noticed. The type of ring that she had imagine wearing as a little girl, still she had to admire the effort even though Elijah had given it to her looking less than thrilled.

She shook her head, enough of the wedding nonsense. She and Elijah hadn't set a date yet, but she was not going to think about the wedding for now. She jabbed in her key in her apartment doorknob and was surprised when it was already opened. Katherine frowned, had someone broken in?

She opened the door completely and shrieked. "What are you guys doing here?"

She knew the statement was more than rude, but it wasn't like she had invited these people they had practically barged in unannounced. Her twin, Elena sat at the far corner looking embarrassed, Rebekah had an evil grin plastered on her face. Katherine recognize Elijah's perky blond assistant as Elena's annoying cheerful best friend and sitting next to Katherine was-

"Bonnie?" she quipped. She hadn't seen Bonnie Bennett since she had graduated from high school. During their high school years they had been best friends, but times had changed and she hadn't seen her in years.

Bonnie hadn't changed much, she was still pretty much the same, except perhaps she looked even prettier than the last time that Katherine had seen her.

"Hi, Kat." Bonnie gave her a shy smile. "I hope you don't mind us barging in-"

"Sit down, Katherine." Caroline interrupted in her best bossy voice. Katherine raised an eyebrow, but did as the blond instructed her to do. "Now, I don't know if Elijah mention this to you, but since neither of you know anything about planning a wedding, he hired me as the official party planner."

"Fantastic." Katherine said dryly. "That still doesn't explain what all of you are doing here."

"Oh, Katherine, you silly girl." Rebekah gave a little giggle. "We're the wedding party, the bridesmaids."

"Bridesmaids?" Katherine looked at her twin for conformation. Elena was going to be the only bridesmaid in the ceremony.

Elena blushed. "Sorry. But you know I hate being the center of attention and I thought it would be fun with more people."

Katherine scowled and turned away. "So you four are my bridesmaids?"

"Three." Caroline corrected as she looked up from her I-Pad. "Elena your sister, Rebekah Elijah's sister, and Bonnie your childhood friend."

"We had a really hard time finding your friends, Katherine." Rebekah said in fake sweetness, practically rubbing it in Katherine's face that she had no decent friends.

"That's fine, Rebekah," Katherine said back in fake sweetness. "You're more than enough."

She squeezed Bonnie's hand to tell her than she was glad that she was here. "So what exactly are you four doing here, to tell me that you're going to be my bridesmaids?"

"Of course not." Caroline rolled her blue eyes. "We're here to plan your wedding!"

"Now?"

"Yes, now." Caroline said. "You two want to get married in a matter of months, we don't have a minute to spare."

"Oh, god is that your engagement ring?" Bonnie suddenly squealed pointing to her wedding finger.

"Oh, yes," Katherine had forgotten she had it. Elena took her hand and examined the ring, even Rebekah looked jealous. "Elijah, got it for me . . . it got back order at the jewels."

"Ok, focus people, you can look later." Caroline tugged back a golden curl. "Ok, first up these are all the things that we need to get done, we need to pick the cake, the music, reception, church, photographer, wedding invitations, flowers, gift bags, wedding bands, wedding dress-"

The list continued for over ten minutes, Katherine bit back a sigh, perhaps this wasn't her best idea.

* * *

Katherine's cell phone rang early the next morning while she was on her second cup of coffee. Caroline and the girls had left before nine o' clock last night, but Katherine practically felt drained of energy. She has so much to do for this hurried wedding, that she was wondering if it was even worth it.

Katherine frowned when she didn't recognize the number. "Hello?"

"Hello," a woman's voice said. "Katherine, its Esther Mikaelson we met a few weeks ago."

"Oh, hello." It was Elijah's mother, but why would she be calling her?

"I just wanted to let you know that I'm throwing you and Elijah an engagement party tomorrow night, just family and a few friends." She said crisply.

"Oh, no Mrs. Mikaelson you don't have too." Katherine said hurriedly. The last thing she wanted was to be in a big room filled with people that expected Elijah and Katherine to be madly in love.

Esther simply said. "Oh, dear it wasn't an option, I was telling you. Tomorrow night, seven o'clock. Wear something pretty."

Click.

Well, so much for that.

* * *

"Ok, so we have the bridesmaids settled." Caroline muttered darkly as she looked at her list. "Now all we need in the groomsmen."

Elijah looked up from his computer. Truthfully, he hadn't heard a word that Caroline had babbled, the girl talked more than he could listen and he always believed that planning the wedding was well, a woman's job. "Groomsmen?"

"Yeah," Caroline said in a duh tone. "The ones that will be accompany you along with your best man. You have no clue do you?"

"Not really." Elijah said sheepishly.

Caroline waved his comment. "No problem, I already have a few names down. Your brothers Kol and Klaus and we need one more to accompany Elena."

"Marcel." Elijah said the first name that popped into his head which was the name of the entertainment lawyer he knew well across his own office. "Is that all, Caroline?"

"Pretty much," Caroline said coulsulting her list. "Oh, just one more thing, your mom wanted me to confirm the engagement party she planned for you and Katherine tomorrow night."

-End of Chapter Ten-


	11. Sweet Parting

**11. Sweet Parting**

One of the nice things about the Mikaelson home was that it was large. When the Mikaelson children had been growing up here, they had each had their own rooms, but now that they had their own, separate lives they only came home once in a while. Most of their former bedrooms were used as guest rooms and Katherine had been given Rebekah's old bubble gum pink bedroom to change and prep for the engagement party.

Which meant that Katherine had plenty of time and space to freak out all by herself.

As if it wasn't bad enough that Esther had planned this party without consulting her, she was about to meet a lot of people as Elijah's new soon to be wife, and to add to that bundle of joy she and Elijah had to act like a real couple, like they were actually in love. The horror.

Katherine nervously tugged on her dress as she looked at the mirror. She had gone shopping with her mom this morning and by pure luck managed to find a pretty dress. Her dress was long with a sweetheart neckline and it was the palest blue, almost white. Her dark hair had been made into a neat French twist and a professional had expertly applied her make up.

Now if she could only get used to being someone's wife.

"Where's the prostitute convention?" Rebekah's lips pulled into a smirk when she saw that Katherine foolishly looked down at her dress. "Kidding, well sort off, you actually managed to look decent."

"Thanks." She replied sarcastically. "Is everyone already there?"

"Almost." There was an awkward paused between the two girls until Rebekah said. "I never did tell you who Tatia Petrova was, did I? Nor how much she meant to my brother."

"You really don't have too." Katherine huffed. She had no desire to hear about Elijah's ex-girlfriends.

"Actually, I do." Rebekah interrupted. "Especially since you're are his future wife."

"Fine, what happened between Elijah and the famous Tatia?"

"She broke his heart." Rebekah said as if that explained everything. When Katherine raised an eyebrow she elaborated. "Tatia and Elijah were in love with each other for a long time, they had a perfect relationship, too perfect if you asked me. But you know how Elijah is, he sometimes gets too focused on work-"she trailed off. "Anyway long story short, she cheated on him and Elijah avoids women like the plague, he seems fond on you so please don't mess it up."

She gulped. "I didn't know."

"Why would you?" Rebekah patted down her blond hair. "Look, I'm sorry for being a bitch earlier, I just want Elijah to be happy, and if being with you makes him happy so be it."

* * *

In Elijah's old bedroom, Elijah himself was getting ready, he was wearing his usual three piece suit and had combed back his hair trying to ignore the fact that Klaus and Kol seemed more interested in Kol's cell phone. Those two could really be like children sometimes.

There was a knock on the door. "Come in."

"Elijah, are you ready? The rest of the guests will be arriving soon." Kol and Klaus immediately straightened up when Mikael appeared.

Elijah nodded.

"Good," he hesitated for a moment. "Son, tonight is your engagement party, naturally everyone expects you to act you know . . . in love. But lately I've noticed whenever you and Katherine look at each other you seem like you-"

"Want to kill each other?" Klaus pointed out.

"Is the last person you want to see?" Kol guessed as he took a selfie.

Elijah glared, so much for sibling support.

"That's enough both of you." Mikael snapped. "Just try to be more affectionate."

Elijah nodded trying not to take his father's words to heart. He had been acting considerate hadn't he? Katherine didn't exactly make loving her easy.

Caroline barged into the room holding a clipboard and looking anxious, even her blond hair was slightly messy. "Everybody ready?"

"Caroline, we could be changing." Kol gave an exaggerated sigh. Kol had always had a little crush on Caroline. "Shame on you."

Caroline rolled her eyes. "Stuff it, I've seen better Mikaelson."

Kol gaped and reddened while Klaus snickered.

* * *

There were a lot of people. Way more than Katherine had expected, all elegantly dressed and sipping champagne waiting to greet the couple. Katherine could only recognize half of the people in the room, which mostly was her father's business partners, Jenna's friends, and Elena and Katherine's old school friends.

Katherine felt herself getting nervous, how was she supposed to act? Worse what was she supposed to say, what if she messed up or-"Are you ready?"

Katherine looked up and saw Elijah dressed perfectly like always except this time with too much hair gel. "Elijah, you're here."

"Of course I'm here, the party is for both of us." He stared at her dress. "Nice dress, you look lovely."

"Is that sarcasm?"

"No, Katherine it's an actual compliment." There was a twitch of a smile playing on his lips. "How long you remain lovely is another different thing entirely."

"I'm always lovely." She shot back.

Elijah was cut off by the sound of Esther's voice. "Thank you so much everyone for coming." Esther cooed. "I would like everyone to give a warm welcome to the stars of the evening, the soon to be Mr. and Mrs. Mikaelson-Elijah and Katherine Pierce."

There was an array of claps and Katherine froze, Elijah noticed this and grabbed her hand. "Come on, let's go." Elijah murmured as he helped her down. Katherine plastered a big, fake smile on her face and she relaxed when she saw Elena and Bonnie cheering. She could do this, she was Katherine Pierce after all.

"Thank you so much for coming." Elijah said once they reached the bottom of the stairs.

Katherine gulped. "Yes, thank you."

"Kiss! Kiss!" someone cheered, which sounded suspiciously like Kol.

Katherine felt herself reddened. "Oh, no." She didn't understand why this was such a big deal, she had kissed dozens of men before (on dares, bets, truths or dare, etc.) but this was different, why was she so nervous about kissing Elijah?

"Kiss! Kiss!" the chanting became louder and Katherine just wanted to duck and cover. She raised her head to tell Elijah to do something to make it stop, but Elijah used that opportunity to kiss her.

-End of Chapter Eleven-

And they kissed (well, sort of!) : )


	12. Cover Story

**12. Cover Story**

Elijah's lips were warm, soft, sweet.

And totally ruining her lip gloss, Katherine could feel her brown eyes widening as Elijah kissed her. She hadn't expected it, since Elijah was the prude one in the so called relationship. Katherine could feel her face growing warm as she felt everyone eyes on her and Elijah.

When Elijah pulled away Katherine felt like she could breathe again, she forced a smile to spread on her wobbling lips as Elijah wrapped an arm around her waist and helped her down the stairs.

When Katherine was sure than no one was watching she stomped on him with her five inch heel.

"Ow." Elijah hissed in her ear. "Why did you stomp on me?"

"For kissing me without my permission."

"I need your permission to kiss you, wife?" was Elijah's snarky reply. "It's not my fault that your froze."

Katherine reddened. "Shut up." He noticed a small, elderly couple approached them. Katherine recognize them as old family friends, Mr. and Mrs. Whitmore. "Hello, Mr. and Mrs. Whitmore thank you so much for coming, this is my fiancée, Elijah."

"Pleasure." Elijah said as he shook Mr. Whitmore's chubby palm.

"Oh, I just love weddings!" Mrs. Whitmore dabbed her eyes. "Tell me, how did you two meet?"

Katherine and Elijah froze, and not even Elijah had something prepared. Mrs. Whitmore raised an eyebrow. How could they had been so stupid and not think of a cover story? Their parents might not asked, but other people would.

"-At a play."

"-At a nightclub."

Mr. and Mrs. Whitmore looked even more confused. Katherine grabbed Elijah's hand and took him away from the crowd. "Did you big brain not think of a cover story?" Katherine demanded.

"Me?" Elijah demanded. "I would never go to a nightclub, why did you even have to say hello?"

"Ok, don't panic." Katherine patted back down her blue dress. "Let's just . . . wing it say I'm the love of your life and it was love at first sight or something."

Elijah snorted.

Katherine threw him a condescending look. "Just pretend, all right. You can do that, can't you?"

Elijah offered his arm to take her back to the party. "Of course, sweetheart."

* * *

"Ow, Ow," Katherine whined as she took off her heels that were practically stopping her circulatory system. They were brand new and she hadn't broken them in yet. It was well after midnight and the house was finally empty. Her parents and her sister had left, but Elijah had offered her a ride back to her apartment.

Elijah looked up, he had been taking off his suit jacket. "Are you all right?"

"Fine." She said, at least no one else had asked questions that they couldn't answer. "It's just my heels. They are painful."

"Why do you wear them?" Elijah asked, confused. He had never understood why women enjoyed wearing heels.

Katherine shrugged. "They make me feel taller." She sighed as she stood up and slipped into a pair of flats that she had brought from home. "Besides pain equals beauty."

Elijah shook his head. "You're very unusual, Miss Pierce."

"Thanks."

"It wasn't a compliment."

"I know."

* * *

The next afternoon Elijah couldn't believe where he was sitting, when Katherine had called him to tell him that they should meet to plan a cover story and actually get to know each other he had thought that they would meet in a café or something. Not at a bar.

They were sitting in a small table at the Grill where Katherine was scarfing down French fries and dipping them in ketchup while Elijah just sat watching her, his lips becoming thinner as he took a sip of his water.

"Oh, come on," Katherine teased him as she took a bite of her French fry. "You're acting like you've never been to a bar before, have you?"

"Of course I have," he argued. "It's just not my favorite place. Couldn't you have picked a place that was cleaner?"

"Nothing is wrong with this place." Katherine argued as she took out a small, Hello Kitty notebook. "Now let's get this cover thing over with, how about we say we meet at the movies, that's a pretty common place."

Elijah shook his head. "I'm not fond with modern movies, my brothers would never believe we meet at the movies. How about a museum?"

Katherine looked at him as if he were crazy. She put down her notebook, she was in no mood to think, especially on a Saturday afternoon. "Ok, question have you ever gotten drunk?"

"Once." Elijah blinked. "In college, not a pleasant experience."

"You're kidding," Katherine laughed as she snapped her fingers and a waitress put down two shot glasses filled with tequila. "How about it, hubby why don't we have our own celebration?"

Elijah shook his head. "No, Katherine stick to the topic please."

"Oh, come on don't be like that." Katherine said as she raised her glass. "Just have one drink with me."

After one moment, Elijah surprisingly raised his glass. "One drink."

* * *

Katherine gaped as she saw the scene unfolding, she couldn't believe her eyes. One drink had turned to four had turned to six and now Elijah was sitting at the bar surrounded by a crowd. His expensive suit jacket was on the floor, his tie was undone, and his hair was unkempt.

Now Katherine knew why he never drank, he couldn't handle it. Katherine stood up and she approached him, better stop him before he made a fool of himself. Even more.

"To all of you lovely people!" cheered Elijah.

She tugged on his shirt. "Come on, Elijah let's go home."

Elijah wrapped a hand around her waist and kissed her sloppily on the cheek. "Hold on babe."

Katherine looked back startled, since when did Elijah call her babe? Yes, she was actually missing Miss Katherine.

"No, Elijah is time to go home now." She insisted.

"Fine." He fumbled. "Let me get my keys-"

"I'll get the keys." She took them from him as they walked towards his car. "Your precious car better have insurance."

-End of Chapter Twelve-


	13. First Date

**13. First Date**

"Come on, Elijah at least try to walk!" Katherine hissed as she half struggled to carry a very drunk Elijah into his apartment building (while trying at the same time to ignored the stares from the few people that were up) "I can't carry you!"

Elijah ignored her as he drunkenly started singing an old Hanna Montana song. Katherine rolled her eyes as she struggled to get the door open of his apartment. "Home sweet home." She closed the door. "Bed now."

"Come join me." He smirked as he slapped her on the ass unexpectedly.

"Ow!" Katherine flushed. "That hurt."

Elijah ignored her as he walked towards his room and laid down on the bed. Katherine sighed as she started taking off his shoes and placed a blanket on top of him. "Well I've learned my lesson, I'm not letting you get drunk. Ever."

Elijah was softly snoring.

Katherine shook her head as she closed the door behind her. Elijah half sleepily mumbled. "Good night, Katherine."

* * *

The next morning Elijah woke up with a killer hangover, an upset stomach, and the need to throw up that refused to disappear. Worse, he didn't know how he had gotten home. He remembered meeting Katherine for lunch and joining her in a drink, but that was all.

He closed his eyes and he laid back down on the pillows. Katherine.

She wouldn't let him forget about this even after they were divorced. Half hating himself he dialed her number and Katherine cheerily answered on the other side. "Morning." She simpered. "How did you sleep?"

"Shut up." Elijah grumbled.

"Now Mr. Mikaelson, is that any way to talk to a lady?"

"Good, do you know one?"

"Very funny."

"Were you the one that brought me home last night?" Elijah asked, half dreading the answer.

"Yep." Katherine said. "Practically dragging, but if it makes you feel any better I will never ask you to drink again."

Elijah squinted at the bright sunlight as he forced himself to sit up. "I appreciate that, I'm sorry about last night."

"Don't worry," Katherine said taking the apology to heart, "You can make it up to me, because tonight it's date night."

Elijah stifled a laugh. "Date night? What's that?"

Katherine shrugged as she took a sip of coffee. "What it sounds like, we have to get to know each other sooner or later and I rather not repeat last night's events."

Elijah ran a hand through his dark hair. He really needed a shower. "All right, but just to be clear, it was you who decided to get to know each other in a bar."

Katherine rolled her eyes. "Yes, I've done awful things and dress casual, I'm going to go crazy if I see you in another suit and I'm dressed in jeans. This isn't Wall Street."

* * *

"You want to go to the park for our date?" Elijah sounded confused as he and Katherine walked towards the small park that wasn't too far from neither Katherine nor Elijah's apartment. It was weird that Katherine had chosen such a simple place for a date. He was sure that she would choose a Casino or something. This isn't where he usually took girls for dates either, he usually took them to the opera or to see a play.

"Why not?" she asked defensively. "I used to love going here as a little girl, besides they have a duck pond."

Elijah blinked. "A duck pond?"

Katherine gave a heavy sigh as if Elijah didn't know what a duck pond was. She tugged on his wrist until she pulled him forward to where dozens of little kids and their families were hanging around a duck pond filled with small, brown ducks. "You've never been here? It's well know."

"I'm not fond of the outdoor . . . or ducks." He admitted.

"Why not? They are so cute." She gave him a crumbled twenty. "Here, there's a supermarket across from here go buy some bread or crackers so that we can give them some."

"I can pay for bread." He told her as he handed her back her money. "I'll be right back."

* * *

"Will that be all sir?" the checkout lady asked him motioning towards the small package of white bread.

He nodded as he pulled out his credit card, he noticed a small row of stuffed ducks near the counter. He grabbed one and placed it on top. "And this too."

The lady smiled at him. "For your baby?"

"No for my girlfriend, she likes . . . ducks." he said awkwardly. The way he said it made it sound like Katherine was five.

He paid for his purchases as he headed towards the pond where Katherine was watching the ducks with a soft, content smile on her face. "Here." He said handing her the bread and then the duck. "And here."

"A stuffed duck?" Katherine smiled. "Why?"

Elijah felt himself blushing. "Well, you said you liked ducks, and I just thought . . . never mind it was a stupid idea."

Katherine kissed his cheek. "No, it wasn't."

* * *

Katherine closed the door of her apartment later that night feeling unusually giddy. They had feed the ducks for a few hours and they had actually gotten to know each other. Katherine found out that he loved the Godfather movies, that he hated coffee but he could only wake up with it, and that he wasn't really a morning person.

A soft smile crossed her lips as she looked at the stuffed duck before placing it on the bed. She couldn't believe that Elijah had actually been nice and funny, they were actually starting to act like a couple.

Katherine placed the stuffed duck on her pillow. It was a reminded of their first date.

-End of Chapter Thirteen-


	14. Happy Holidays

**14. Happy Holidays**

Katherine stared at the dozens of lists in front of her that never seemed to end, some of them were handwritten by Caroline, and others were magazine clips from Esther and her mother, and others were menus and lists from caters, and flower companies, and reception halls. It was starting to make Katherine dizzy.

She was cross legged in Elijah apartment, for the first time since seventh grade she was wearing sweatpants (even Elijah had seemed a little startled) staring at the dozens of things she had to pick before her wedding in just a short month and a half.

She had decided to look over the stuff in Elijah's apartment so that he could help her choose, but Elijah had quickly shown his disinterest and was no help and basically told her that he didn't care as long as the wedding was "classy" whatever that meant.

"Would it kill you to help me?" she snapped, finally losing her temper.

Elijah was sitting in a dining room chair across from her, with the sleeves rolled up and returning some emails. He looked up and faced her. "I told you, I'm no good with weddings-"

"Forget it," Katherine snapped, an edge to her voice. "I'll do it myself." She couldn't believe that she was closed to tears over as stupid wedding.

Elijah noticed her anxiety and stood up and gently massaged her shoulders, feeling her tense muscles relaxing. "What are you doing? Katherine mumbled.

Elijah stopped massaging. "I'm sorry, it was the only thing, I could think of-"

"I didn't say stop." Katherine corrected. "I'm going to need that and a bottle of vodka if I have to go over twenty different photos of cakes."

Elijah chuckled. "You shouldn't be so stressed out, especially for a fake wedding."

"Easy for you to say," Katherine whispered. "Nobody cares about the groom, all eyes are on the bride."

A small smiled formed on Elijah's lips as he watched Katherine's eyes slowly close as she started to fall asleep.

"You can stay here if you want." Elijah offered generously. "If you're tired that is."

Katherine immediately sat up, trying to ignore the blush that was threatening to coat her cheeks. She immediately started ruffling papers together. "Thanks, but no thanks. I should probably get going. Thanks for the mini massage though."

* * *

"Why should I give Elijah anything?" Katherine grumbled to her sister thoroughly confused. Elena had a free period and had asked Katherine if she wanted to meet up for coffee. Katherine had agreed as long as Elena didn't talk about the wedding.

Everything had been going fine until Elena had mentioned what Katherine was planning on giving Elijah, a thought that Katherine found hilarious, especially since Elijah had practically thrown the engagement ring at her face.

Elena looked thoroughly confused as she added more honey to her tea. "Because you're getting married in a little over a month, because he's your fiancée, because it's Christmas."

Katherine's head shot up. Christmas. Was it actually Christmas already? She looked around the café and streets which were covered with jiggle bells, green and red sashes, and big fat, jolly Santa Clauses. Holiday music was even pouring out of the stores. Katherine groaned, only she would be stupid enough to actually forget about Christmas.

Elena quickly read her thoughts. "You forgot didn't you?"

"I didn't forget." Katherine said not wanting to admit the obvious to her responsible twin. "I already got him a present and its awesome."

"Oh, really?" Elena chuckled. "What is it?"

"It's so great that I'm not even going to tell you."

* * *

Elijah was about to leave for lunch when his phone rang. "Yes, April?" Since Caroline was using all of her energy and time to plan the wedding, Elijah had hired a temporary assistant, April Young.

"I'm sorry to interrupt you sir." April said. "But your fiancée is on the line as she is very eager to speak to you."

Elijah looked surprised, Katherine almost never called him at work. "Put her on the phone, April. Hello, Miss Pierce."

"What did we say about the Miss crap?" Katherine grumbled. "Anyway I have a very important question."

Elijah sounded amused. "By all means fire away."

"What do you want for Christmas?" she blurted out.

Elijah sat back, thoroughly confused. He had already gotten Katherine's present, but he had never thought that she would get one for him. "Um, I don't know whatever."

"I don't need a whatever, Elijah. I need a thing, and object."

"All right." Elijah said trying not to laugh at her. "How about a tie?"

"A tie?" Katherine scoffed at the other end. "You're my fiancée, not my grandfather."

* * *

"There's nothing in this whole damn store," Katherine sighed as she put down a pair of Frosty the Snow Man boxers. It was Saturday and only four days until Christmas and Katherine still hadn't found him a present. She had dragged Caroline to the department store with her, because she would probably be the only one who knew what Elijah would like for Christmas. "We've been searching for hours."

"Don't worry, we'll find him something." Caroline said as she looked over her shoulder and saw the neat stacks of ties. "I know how about a tie?"

Katherine didn't bother responding, she just grabbed the blonde's hand and dragged her out of the store. The mall would be closing in three hours and Katherine was growing desperate. "Care, it needs to be a good present." She saw the way that Caroline was grinning at her. "What?" she asked annoyed.

"Nothing, it's just so cute how worked up you're getting over a present, you're going to freak out when you see what he got you." Reading her thoughts she also said. "Oh, and don't even ask, it's a surprise."

Katherine shrugged as she stopped in front of a small store that sold fine wine. "Here."

Caroline frowned. "Here? Katherine, Elijah usually doesn't drink."

"I know." Katherine stifled a laugh remembering the day that he had gotten drunk. She noticed through the corner of her eye an old antique flask, the kind men carried around in the 19th century and knowing Elijah he probably loved old things. "I have something else in mind."

-End of Chapter Fourteen-

Thanks for your reviews!


	15. Dresses

**Chapter Fifteen: Dresses**

"Why do I have to be blindfolded?" Katherine mumbled as she gripped Elijah's shoulder. "Is this some kind of kink of yours?" Katherine didn't know where she was, especially since Elijah had insisted that she put the blindfold on in the car. She could just feel herself walking up a flight of stairs with Elijah guiding her.

It was Christmas Eve and Katherine was surprised that Elijah had actually taken a day off during the holidays, they had each decided to spend the holidays with their own families.

"No, it's not a kink." There was an amused tone in his voice as he took off the blindfold. "There. Merry Christmas."

It took a few minutes for Katherine's vision to settle and when it did she found herself staring at a door with a big red ribbon. "You got me a door?"

"No, silly I got you this." He unlock the door and he showed her a beautiful apartment that was already fully decorated with red and white furniture. There was a vase filled with beautiful red roses. "Merry Christmas."

"You got me an apartment?" Katherine gaped. What kind of guy gave an apartment for Christmas? She suddenly remembered the lousy vintage flask that she had given him with his initials. It looked pathetic next to this and she suddenly wished that she hadn't given it to him yesterday.

"Well, it's really for us." He corrected gently. "Since we are getting married, most people are going to expect us to live together."

"Ha ha," she could feel the blush coating her cheeks. "I feel terrible though."

Elijah looked confused. "Why?"

Katherine could feel herself growing redder, since when did she show Elijah her insecurities. "Because I only got you a stupid vintage flask for Christmas and you got me a beautiful apartment. . ." she trailed off and saw Elijah smiling. "Don't laugh at me!"

"I'm not laughing." He corrected badly as he squeezed her hand. "Katherine I love the flask it's very unique, besides the apartment if for both of us, so you don't have to feel that bad. I want this to be a Christmas that we can both enjoy."

Katherine felt her face cooling, at least Elijah was being a good sport about it. "Ok."

"Want to see inside?" Elijah asked. "We take possession on Monday."

Katherine nodded as she entered the apartment, it was elegantly made and with a few feminine touches, it had two bathrooms and only one bedroom. It seemed rude to ask where one of them was going to sleep, unless he expected them to share a bed.

"Do you like it?"

"I love it." Katherine told him honestly as she looked at him. Their eyes meet and before Katherine could stop herself she felt herself kissing him. His lips were warm, gentle, and soft. Elijah's arms curled around her waist.

"What was that?" he asked, between hollow breaths. "That kiss?"

The moment of passion in Katherine's mind seemed to end and it returned to awkwardness, well at least Katherine tried to pass it off coolly. "That-That was just a friendly kiss."

Elijah frowned and he wanted to ask, how many friends kissed like that? But before he could, he felt Katherine grabbing his arm and practically dragging him out. "Come on, I'm starving!"

* * *

"Earth to Katherine, hello!" Elena chirped, drifting Katherine away from her thoughts. When she raised her head, she found herself looking at the three way mirror in front of her and saw a vision in white.

_Oh,_ today she was trying on wedding dresses. Her wedding dress to her fake marriage, she would have thought she would enjoy this part at least, but her thought were everywhere. It didn't help that her thoughts were still on the kiss even thought it had happened weeks ago. She hadn't spoken to Elijah since and he had simply texted her a Merry Christmas during the holidays, now it was two days before New Year's and she was trying on wedding dresses and she had to pick one if she wanted it ready by her wedding date, January 23rd.

She knew she should be enjoying herself, but it was hard and even though she usually like being the center of attention today she didn't appreciate it and Esther, Elijah's mother who had insisted on accompanying her, wasn't helping.

Katherine had gone through four dresses already and the only one that Esther had liked was the princess style one, Katherine hated the princess style, she wanted something sexy and not to resemble Cinderella.

At least her mom and Elena were being more supportive. Jenna looked up. "Do you like this one, Kat?"

Katherine stared at her reflection, the dress was pretty. It was a long, strapless dress that hugged her waist and flowed on the bottom, not exactly in princess style, but just enough to give her a little twirl. There were bright stones around the bodice and it came with a little lace jacket for the ceremony.

"Well," the saleslady asked. "Is this your dress?"

Esther took a sip of her champagne. "I don't like it, it's far too revealing. Katherine, dear I think the traditional dress suited you better."

Katherine shook her head, she hated the princess style dress and she wasn't going to let Esther ruin her night, besides she had enough of her bitchy comments for one day. She looked at the sales lady. "This is my dress." She turned to Elena. "Help me take it off? I really want to go home."

"Hey, are you ok?" Elena asked as she helped Katherine get out of her wedding dress. "You seem distracted."

Katherine nodded as Elena handed her back her leather jacket. "Yes, I just have a lot on my mind."

* * *

Esther was already dreading the marriage between Katherine and her second oldest son. At first she had been glad that Elijah was finally going out with other women after his disastrous end with Tatia Petrova.

She hadn't been too fond of Katherine to be truthful, but she thought she would be a phase that he would outgrow eventually. She never thought he would actually marry her.

And now as the date of the wedding was slowly approaching Esther found herself dreading it, she had liked Tatia up until the point she had cheated on her son, she was smart, educated, and with goals in life, Katherine was neither. She wondered how her son had managed to fall for someone like Katherine after Tatia.

-End of Chapter Fifteen-

The wedding in the next chapter!


	16. The Wedding

**16. The Wedding**

Katherine stared at her reflection in the mirror as Jenna finished pulling the zipper of her dress. It closed with a clasp and Katherine stiffened, But Jenna didn't noticed. Jenna was dressed in a wine colored dress with her light hair in loose waves.

"There," she said taking a step back. "You look perfect."

"Thanks mom." Katherine said and it didn't occur to her until that moment that she was nervous. How does one get nervous for a fake wedding? She looked at reflection in the mirror again, the dress that she had chosen despite Esther's disapproval looked great on her and Jenna had arrange the veil on her head perfectly so that it adorned her face and fell just right.

Her dark hair had been neatly arrange in neat curls to frame her heart shaped face, yet Katherine wasn't looking at her dress or her hair or caring about anything else at the moment, it finally hit her. She was going to get married. To Elijah.

She had day dreamed about it of course, but it just felt so different now that the day was actually here. The look on her face showed that she was scared, nervous to say the least. She looked like a scared little girl that didn't want to leave for college. She couldn't believe that she had orchestrated this whole thing for money.

Jenna sensing that something was wrong, looked up. "Are you ok, sweetheart?"

Katherine forced a smile as she nodded, "I'm fine, just a little nervous."

"Well, don't." she squeezed her shoulder. "You look perfect, Elijah is going to love your dress."

"Ok, bride are you ready?" Caroline practically shouted as she came into the dressing room dressed in a long ice blue dress. She had a clipboard in one hand and a cell phone in the other and she looked beyond stress. "March, the ceremony is about to begin."

Jenna and Katherine exchanged rare smiles as they followed Caroline out the door and towards the outside patio where the religious ceremony was taking place and where the guests were already waiting. Here comes the bride.

* * *

"You ok?"

Kol's voice interrupted Elijah's thoughts or clear head might be a better word since he wasn't really thinking anything in particular, more likely he was counting down the minutes until Katherine and him became man and wife.

He couldn't believe that the day when they would finally be married had finally come, he wondered where all the time had gone? Everything seemed to be going so fast, he and Katherine had hardly had a decent conversation since when Katherine had suprisgly kissed him after Elijah had given her, her Christmas present, but then the holidays had come across and Elijah had been busy with work and Katherine with wedding stuff that they had hardly seen each other.

They were having the ceremony outside in the bitter cold, though the guests didn't seem to mind. It was a small wedding and only a hundred and so chairs had been laid out for guests and family.

He could see Katherine's parents sitting on one side and his own parents sitting on the groom's side. Elijah couldn't help but noticed that Finn, and his very pregnant wife Sage had chosen a seat as far away from Mikael as possible which Elijah thought was lucky since Mikael was very quick to anger.

"Yes, I'm fine, thank you Kol." Though Elijah wish he sounded more sincere.

Kol rolled his eyes clearly not believing him, he discreetly pulled out a flask. "Here, it will calm your nerves, did wonders for me."

"Kol!" he snapped. He was already regretting asking Kol to be his best man, he had asked Klaus, but he had decline and Mikael would probably murder Elijah if he asked Finn. "The priest is here and I'm not getting drunk fifteen minutes before my wedding!" Truthfully, Elijah would want nothing more than to numb the pain, but he didn't want to make a complete ass hole out of himself.

Kol rolled his eyes. "Please, the poor old priest is half blind!" when Elijah still didn't take it, Kol sighed. "Fine, suit yourself." The wedding music began and Kol winked. "Time to strut your stuff, Romeo."

Elijah fought the urge to roll his eyes and instead stared at the wedding party. The bridesmaids and grooms were entering the church in peach silk dresses while the grooms entered wearing tuxes. Klaus was accompanying Rebekah and Marcel was accompanying Bonnie, while Elena as the maid of honor followed behind them smiling brightly.

After Elena came Katherine being walked down the aisle by Alaric. Her mere presence took Elijah's breath away, the dress suited her and her curls adorned her face and made her look even lovelier. Even through her veil, Elijah could see how nervous Katherine felt. Even more nervous than him.

"Take care of my daughter, Elijah." Alaric said firmly as he handed Katherine over to Elijah. Alaric kissed her on the cheek.

Elijah nodded. "I will, sir."

Katherine forced a smile as Elijah lifted the veil. "Hi," she whispered.

"Hi," he whispered back. "Don't be nervous."

The priest cleared his throat. "We are gathered here today to. . ."

Katherine and her family weren't very religious, so she didn't know how long the ceremony would last but Katherine hope forever and she mimicked Elijah's moves so that she didn't make too many mistake.

"I now pronounce you husband and wife." The priest said, smiling. "You may kiss the bride."

Elijah turned to face her and nodded once as if asking for her permission, Katherine nodded as he gave her a small kiss. The crowd erupted in claps.

Katherine breathed a sigh of relief, it was over. "Thank you." She said so quietly so only Elijah could hear. Elijah nodded.

Katherine and Elijah faced their guests, their hands still entwined. The priest raised his head proudly. "I present to you, Mr. and Mrs. Mikaelson!"

-End of Chapter Sixteen-


	17. The Honeymoon Part I

**17. The Honeymoon Part I**

"Hawaii?" Katherine raised a perfectly perched eyebrow, her tiredness seemed to diminish as she and Elijah walked through the airport gates. It was the middle of the night almost dawn, after the reception Elena had helped her change into a fabulous outfit and then she and Elijah had been on their way to the airport for their honeymoon.

Honeymoon, the word almost had a cutesy sound like a game schoolchildren might play. Katherine closed her eyes as she remembered the reception, it had been small just family and friends, but Caroline had done a marvelous job.

The best part is that they had been so busy greeting their guests and chatting with everyone that Elijah and Katherine had hardly seen each other except for dancing and pictures. Things between her and Elijah had become awkward fast which had been something that Katherine hadn't wanted, though this time she had no one to blame, but herself.

Now they were going to spend one week together, on their honeymoon, in Hawaii apparently

Elijah nodded as he handed the man in front on them their boarding tickets. "You said you liked the sun."

Katherine nodded, a bit surprise. Whenever she was with Elijah she had the tendency to babble, but she was surprised that Elijah had remembered that she liked the sun and the beach and anything to with summer, especially since Elijah wasn't the outdoorsy type.

"Flight 309 now boarding to Honolulu, Hawaii."

Elijah turned towards her. "It's time to board the plane, Mrs. Mikaelson."

Katherine scowled. "Don't call me that, it's not funny."

Elijah shrugged. "You're going to be hearing it for the next year or so, might as well get used to it."

Katherine snorted as she and Elijah started boarding the plane. "Like that will happen." They walked inside and found their seats. "I get the window seat." She said quickly as she slipped into the seat. Elijah slid in next to her.

She blinked tiredly as she stared out the window, she felt like she was going to fall over. She had woken up at six in the morning the day before and after everything she could feel herself falling asleep standing up.

Elijah noticed this, he had just pulled out a neatly folded magazine. "Sleep, Katherine it's going to be a couple of hours before were reach Hawaii, I'll wake you."

Katherine nodded as she leaned her head against the window, not caring that it hurt her head. Sleep soon overcame her.

* * *

"Katherine, Katherine." Katherine felt someone shaking her shoulder, though she was still so sleepy that she had no idea who it was. It took her a moment to put the pieces together. Elijah. Her husband. Their honeymoon. Katherine woke up with a start.

"Elijah," she whined as she sat up and realized that half of the plane was already empty and that her curls were messy. "You're scared me!"

"It's not my fault you're heavy sleeper." Elijah raised an eyebrow. "Let's go."

Grumbling, Katherine followed him. She was surprised to be greeted by the warm sunlight and cool relaxing breeze, compare to windy California, Hawaii might as well be another planet. "It's actually hot." She said surprise Katherine already felt sweaty in her leather pants and boots.

Elijah shook his head. "It's not as hot as in the summer, but the weather is pretty pleasant. Let's get our suitcases."

Katherine nodded as she gazed out the window "It's so pretty."

"That's the airport parking lot, a palm tree, and a seagull."

Katherine flushed. "Whatever, it's still pretty."

In another hour, Elijah had managed to get their suitcases and had rented a red mini copper and now they were on their way towards the hotel. "Can't you drive any faster?" Katherine said as she wiped the sweat from her brow with a tissue. "I'm dying here."

"Then you shouldn't have worn leather pants." Elijah said, though he drove a little faster, though not over the speed limit.

Katherine rolled her eyes. "You could have told me where we were going in the first place. "She noticed that Elijah was wearing shorts and a shirt, he actually looked normal. Weird. "Can I ask you something are those clothes new or were they just Christmas presents that you never worn?"

Elijah smiled. "Why do you ask?"

"Because honestly, I never thought you own something that didn't come with a tie and matching socks." She eyed his chest though the outline of his shirt she could see the way that the shirt hugged every inch of his chest. Very nice. Katherine flushed as she looked ahead. "So were staying here?"

"Yes." He killed the engine as he parked in front of a brightly colored hotel decorated with dozens of little seashells. "I trust it's too your satisfaction, Mrs. Mikaelson?"

Katherine rolled her eyes as she closed the door. "That never is going to get old for you right?"

"Nope." They headed towards the main lobby where a smiling woman with red hair greeted them.

"Hello and welcome to the Humming Hotel and Spa!" she said. "I'm Helen how can I help you?"

Katherine brighten. "There's a spa?"

"Oh yes," Helen responded.

"Good afternoon, Helen." Elijah said as he put his credit card on the desk. "Checking in under Mikaelson."

"Oh, yes here you are Mr. Mikaelson." She checked her computer. "Yes, we have the Honeymoon suite all ready for you."

-End of Chapter Seventeen-


	18. The Honeymoon Part II

**18. The Honeymoon Part II**

"I can't believe that you booked a room for the two of us," Katherine fumed as she walked into their room. It was a beautiful room, Katherine had to grudgingly admit with a private balcony, large bathroom, and an equally large bed with a pretty flowery quilt (that they would probably wouldn't be using.) "And the honeymoon suite for crying out loud, have you've forgotten that our marriage is going to be over in a year?"

Katherine had a feeling that Elijah enjoyed torturing her like this and enjoyed making her squirm and feel uncomfortable. That bastard.

A couple of months ago, Katherine wouldn't as so much batted an eyelash but now it seemed that every single thing that Elijah did caused a reaction and that's something that Katherine didn't enjoy. The man had gotten under her skin whether she liked it or not.

"Shh, not so loud." Elijah said as he closed the door and dragged the suitcases inside. "Beside wouldn't it look strange if a new married couple slept in separate suites?"

"No one even knows that we're married!"

"Believe me, people have a habit of finding out." Elijah said thinking of Kol who was well known for getting into other people's business. "It would be better for our little secret if people didn't know that everything was fake a few days after the wedding."

"But did you have to pick the honeymoon suite?" Katherine groaned as she plopped herself on the bed. "It's so cheesy."

Elijah sat down next to her. "I thought you would enjoy the romance. You seem to like the old fashion romances, or at least you watch a lot of movies and I wasn't exactly too romantic when I gave you, your ring."

Katherine gaped at him. She didn't remember telling him that she was a sucker for old Hollywood movies.

Reading her face, he smirked and simply waved his phone. "Your Facebook page included a lot of interesting details."

Katherine rolled her eyes. "You're such a jerk."

Elijah laughed. "For what, finding information about my wife. I didn't know half of the things that you have on your profile, you know how to ice skate?"

"A little." She admitted. "I used to be better, but I stopped when I was around fifteen, I would probably trip right now if I tried."

There was an awkward silence, before Katherine cleared her throat and grabbed her suitcase so that she could start organizing her closet. "The room is nice by the way, and the floor is probably comfortable as well. You should get used to it."

* * *

"Pretty, pretty toes." Katherine sang softly as she pressed each of her toes against each other. While Elijah had gone to visit a few boring museums by himself (a total snoozer) according to Katherine she had visited the hotel's lovely spa and had gotten a pedicure, manicure, and a much needed massage. Now her toes were painted a beautiful shade of blood red.

It was late and humid even in their air conditioned hotel room. Katherine had changed into a baby blue baby doll sleeping blouse and shorts while her dark, curly hair was loose around her shoulders.

She heard the bathroom door open and steam came out, she had been too busy admiring her toes that she had forgotten that Elijah had been in the shower. Katherine's brown eyes widened as he came in. His dark hair was up in spikes and he was only wearing a pair of loose pajama pants and no shirt. "Hey, where are the extra towels?"

Katherine had been too busy trying not to stare at his chest that she didn't hear the question.

"Katherine?" Elijah repeated again. "The towels?"

"Oh, extra cupboard." She said. Did Elijah have to look so good half naked? It would make their fake marriage a whole lot easier if he didn't.

Elijah smiled. "Thanks." While Katherine quickly turned on the TV to distract herself.

"What are you watching?"

"The news." Katherine stopped on the first channel.

"You watch the news?" Elijah asked with a raised eyebrow as he climbed in bed next to her.

"Is that so hard to believe?" Katherine scoffed, but didn't chase him out, he had paid for the room so he had every right to sleep on the bed. "And dry yourself correctly I don't want all the pillows to be wet."

Elijah groaned, but did as he was told. "You know for someone who doesn't want to be a wife, you sure act like one."

Katherine shrugged. "What can I say being bossy is one of my talents." They watched the news in silence for half an hour before Katherine accidently rested her head against Elijah's shoulder and collarbone. She couldn't help but noticed that he smelled pretty good like coconut and salt water. His skin was really soft as well.

She raised her head at the same time he lowered his. Their eyes meet and Elijah murmured her name. "Katherine."

And just like that Katherine seemed to melt as she pressed her lips against his, wrapping her arms around his neck. Elijah started kissing her neck as he pressed her against the bed removing the ribbons of her sleepwear.

Let the honeymoon begin.

-End of Chapter Eighteen-


	19. Back to Reality

**19. Back to Reality**

Going back into the "real world" after their honeymoon in Hawaii had been harder than Elijah and Katherine had thought it would be. They both had thought in their own way that the honeymoon would be painfully awkward, but it had been anything but.

For the rest of their honeymoon ever since they had "consummated" their marriage they had seemed to be in an ignorant bliss. Neither of them brought up questions or even what if's not even Elijah. For once he was going to enjoy the moment, he was in Hawaii with a beautiful woman his wife no less and for once in his life he needed to loosen up.

So for the first time in what seemed like forever, Elijah didn't think he just let Katherine take the lead. So for the rest of their vacation he and Katherine divided their time between museums, the beach, kisses, and their hotel room that they never wanted to leave.

At the end of their vacation, Elijah almost dreaded to return to work. He had, had a good time despite Katherine's attempts to seduce him in public much to his embarrassment, but he knew that he needed to return to work and Katherine to whatever Katherine did.

Elijah knew that she didn't finish school, nor that she had a job. She was spoiled and had never been really responsible and besides the apartment they would share, Katherine would take care of her own finances.

Elijah couldn't help but wonder how their year of husband and wife would go.

* * *

Katherine was bored. First official day as Mrs. Mikaelson and she was already ready to tear her curls out. The apartment was small and brand new so she had hastily done the housekeeping and now she didn't have much to do.

She didn't have a job or really any hobbies unless you counted drinking and dancing on bar tables and she didn't want to spend the rest of the year waiting for Elijah to come home from work. There must be something that she could do.

One of the things that Jenna had urged her to do was volunteer, which Katherine had thought had been a joke at first, but now sounded like a good idea. She grabbed her computer and after a while found a place that she might actually enjoy, an animal shelter.

Katherine smiled as she typed the address in her phone "Perfect." She had always liked animals more than people and spending a few hours with cuddly animals was maybe what she needed.

* * *

When Elijah came home from work, he was greeted with the aroma of Chinese food that he doubted that Katherine had made. The apartment felt different with a person living in it, it feel warm and inviting and it made him glad to be home. It made him feel of the time that he had lived with Tatia.

He was just entering the kitchen when he saw a tiny, black thing zoom by like a mini rocket. He grabbed the counter. "What the hell?"

Standing in front of him (well mostly jumping) was a tiny, black Chihuahua with a little pink collar around its neck. A dog that he definitely didn't have that morning.

"Wow, who would have thought that Elijah Mikaelson swore?" Katherine smirked as she came into the room.

Elijah frowned when he saw her. "What happened to you?"

Katherine was dressed in jeans, sneakers, and an old sweater that seemed to be covered in animal hair and pieces of dog food. Her dark hair was messy and she knew perfectly well that she didn't look like her usual self.

She looked down embarrassed. "Oh, yeah I volunteered at the dog shelter today."

"You volunteered?"

"Yeah, why is that so surprising?" Katherine shot back. She looked at the dog who immediately jumped into her arms. "So I guess you've meet Baby already."

"Baby?" Elijah frowned. "That's the little rat's name?"

"It's not a rat." Katherine scowled. "It's a miniature Chihuahua and it's a she and her name is Baby."

"Katherine, I don't want pets!" Elijah argued. "I especially don't want this one!"

"What it's not manly enough for you?" she widened her eyes. "Please, please let me keep it, it's so cute and I get lonely all by myself . . . and I promise it won't bite your shoe or anything."

Elijah sighed as he looked at the dog who seemed to give him the same pleading eyes. "Fine, but don't bring any more pets."

* * *

Elijah was in his office signing some papers that Caroline had brought him, while silently hoping that Katherine wouldn't bring any more pets from the pet shelter today. He was glad that Katherine was keeping herself busy with volunteer work, but he didn't want his houses to turn into a petting zoo.

He looked at the clock, it was almost five and it was a Friday, Katherine and him had been eating take out for the past week, once or twice Katherine had tried to cook, but even the dog had avoided her cooking.

I should probably take her out to dinner, he thought as the phone rang. He picked it up. "Hello, Elijah Mikaelson speaking?"

"Yes, Mr. Mikaelson," a clipped voice said at the other end. "My name is Matthew Williams, my wife and I are divorcing and we need to settle down the child support, personally I think she's asking for a ridiculous amount, anyway when can I meet you?"

"On, Monday will be fine." Elijah said. He couldn't believe that he was talking to Matthew Williams the owner of the largest department stores in California. How had he even gotten this number?

"Thank you," the man sounded relief. "Miss Pierce, I mean Mrs. Mikaelson now mentioned that you were responsible and efficient."

* * *

Katherine knew that something was different when she heard the door slam, Elijah never slammed doors. Which meant he was either happy or upset. Elijah had simply texted her that he was going to take her out to dinner and she had changed into a little black dress with matching pumps.

"Elijah-"Katherine didn't even have time to finish the sentence because at that moment, Elijah wrapped his arms around her waist and lifted her slightly forward so that he could kiss her on the lips.

The kiss surprised Katherine at first, since when was Elijah so bold? But she scrapped off her surprise.

"What was that for?" she murmured.

"My way of saying, thank you."

Katherine looked confused. "Never mind." Elijah pushed back a piece of dark hair. "How would you like to actually start a relationship or at least try too? We're going to be married for a year and honestly it's better than the mixed messages we're giving each other."

A few weeks ago, Katherine would have protested, but now it seemed like a good idea. "I would like that."

-End of Chapter Nineteen-


	20. Growing Up

**20. Growing Up**

"A pet shelter?" Esther said as she turned towards her maid, Cindy who had just given her the message. She had been trying to get ahold of Katherine for a full week with no response much to her annoyance, but she had thought that Katherine had been at the spa or getting manicures not volunteering at a disgusting and horrible pet shelter.

Cindy nodded. "That's what Miss Forbes said when she asked Mr. Mikaelson."

"A pet shelter!" Esther said again as she rested her back against the wall. "Does the name, Mikaelson not meet anything to the girl, oh go away Cindy."

Cindy scurried out of the kitchen, only to return a few minutes later and find Esther muttering to herself. "Um, Mrs. Mikaelson there is someone at the door."

"Well, answer it you silly girl." Esther scoffed as she rubbed her temples. She could hardly believe it, Katherine, her daughter in law a Mikaelson working with little furry animals. She had no idea what her son saw in her.

Cindy lowered her eyes. "The thing is, Mrs. Mikaelson is that is Miss Tatia Petrova and she wants to speak to you."

Esther paused. Tatia. She hadn't thought about Tatia in months. Elijah growing up, hadn't had many girlfriends, unlike Kol who seemed to have a new girlfriend every week. Of all the girlfriends that Elijah had, including his wife the only one that Esther had really liked had been Tatia.

She was everything that Katherine wasn't-she was well educated, she was respectful, and she was sweet and Esther had loved her up until the point that she had cheated on Elijah.

Esther had been humiliated and angry, but most of all hurt since she had loved Tatia like a daughter and she still did at times. She stood up. "I'll be right there, Cindy."

She walked into the hallway and saw a tall, thin woman wearing a dark skirt and jacket combo. Her dark hair was up in a low bun. She smiled nervously in Esther's direction. "Mrs. Mikaelson, I know I have no right to be here-"

"Say no more dear," Esther said as she pointed towards the kitchen. "Accompany me to the kitchen we have so much to talk about."

* * *

"Katherine!" Elena practically shouted at her twin, they were seated across from each other at a nearby deli and Katherine couldn't help but notice that a lot of people turned when Elena said her name.

"Not so loud." Katherine hissed.

"Sorry," Elena replied, but she didn't seem to mean in. "It's just a contract, you and Elijah, your husband actually made a contract."

"Before we married," Katherine shrugged as if it were no big deal. "And it wasn't an official contract, we didn't sign anything it was just a verbal contract at the time, besides we both got stuff that we wanted."

Elena didn't looked convinced. "Isn't that illegal though?"

Katherine chewed on her bottom lip. "I don't think so, and even if it was I doubt that my own sister will rat me out to the police."

Elena sighed. "True, so you both get stuff-you get your inheritance money and Elijah gets new clients and he just agreed to marry you just like that."

"No, not just like that." Katherine said exasperated. "It was hard work, Elena Elijah had a stick up his ass when I first meet him, and it took a lot of persuasion and begging."

Elena rolled her eyes. "Fine, it was hard in your own words." She paused. "But what happens when the year is up and you both got what you wanted, you both go your separate ways?"

Katherine nervously played with the napkin in front of her. "Yes, that's the plan, a clean break."

Elena studied her sister's face, Katherine could be manipulative, but she couldn't always hide her emotions, and there were some strange emotions playing on Katherine's face. Longing, being unsure, guilt. A slow smile spread on her face. "Oh, my god you're totally in love with him."

"With who?"

"With Elijah," Elena squealed. "It's written all over your face, you're practically getting little hearts in your eyes whenever you say his name and don't even try to deny it."

Katherine huffed, trying to control the blush on her cheeks. "I am not in love with Elijah, god Elena it's like you don't know me at all." She saw that Elena was still looking at her unexpectedly and she finally cracked. "Ok, so despite my instincts we have decided to start a relationship that may end before our marriage contract breaks."

Elena had to actually bite her lip to keep from squealing. "I can't believe this, Katherine Pierce is actually being tied down, what are the odds? What changed your mind?"

Katherine shook her head. "I don't know I think we were caught in lust I guess, we were having such a good time in Hawaii that I don't know we took the honeymoon stage further." Her cell phone started beeping.

"Is that from your adoring husband?"

Katherine rolled her eyes as she read the text, she frowned. "Yeah, he said that his mother invited us to dinner, apparently she has a surprise for him."

-End of Chapter Twenty-

Thanks for your reviews!


	21. Tatia

**21. Tatia**

Later that evening Katherine and Elijah were getting ready for dinner at the Mikaelson's, Katherine has learned quickly that even though it was just dinner at the Mikaelsons than half of the time it was an elegant event.

Elijah had dressed in his usual suit, while Katherine had opted to wear a simple, short black dress that hugged her curves. She placed down her curling iron and fiddled with her earrings. "Why did you mom invite us to dinner again?"

"I'm not really sure myself," Elijah frowned. "She said it was a surprise and with my mother that could mean anything." He glanced at her. "You look lovely."

"Thank you. Be good Baby while Mommy and Daddy are out." She cooed at the tiny, black dog who was position on her doggy bed already.

Elijah rolled his eyes as he handed her, her coat. "Let's go, Mrs. Mikaelson."

The ride to Elijah's parents' home was a short one and by the time that they arrived Kol and Rebekah were getting out of their own cars. Kol looked casual-elegant like he always did in a button down shirt and jeans. Rebekah was dressed in a blue skirt and a white cashmere sweater.

Kol gave an exaggerated wave. "It's Mr. and Mrs. Elijah Mikaelson! Don't you two look lovely this evening?"

"Kol," Rebekah hissed. "Shut up, the neighbors will hear us!"

"Spoil sport." Kol shot back.

"Hi, Kol, Hi Rebekah." Katherine greeted them. "Any idea of what your mother's big surprise is?"

Rebekah shrugged. "With mother it could be anything."

"Well, let's not wait any longer, shall we?" Kol joked as he pushed the door open and they went inside. Katherine relaxed as he smelled the aroma of roast chicken and vanilla.

Esther came to greet them, she was wearing a simple olive colored dress, but she still managed to look stunning. "Darlings." She gave Rebekah, Elijah, and Kol a kiss on the cheek while giving Katherine a wary smile that Katherine ignored. She had never really believed that Esther had liked her very much.

"Mother, where's daddy?" Rebekah asked.

"One of your father friends' got sick so he went to visit him at the hospital," Esther explained. "We will have dinner just the six of us."

"Don't you mean five?" Elijah corrected.

She shook her head. "No, someone came to visit, dear will you come in, please."

A beautiful woman with dark hair and beautiful clothes entered the hallway, though Katherine had no idea who she was, she saw the mood in the room change. Rebekah was glaring, Elijah's jaw was tightening, and even Kol had lost his smirk.

Katherine was the only one feeling clueless. "Um, who is-"

The pretty woman interrupted her. "I don't think we've meet, I'm Tatia Petrova."

* * *

Tatia. The famous Tatia, the one that Elijah had been so hung over before they were married. It was easy to see why Elijah had fallen for her, she was pretty, flawless, and was classy. Still hadn't the girl cheated on Elijah, why the hell had Esther invited her to dinner, especially since Katherine was married to her son (well, fake married, sort of in a relationship.)

As soon as the name Tatia had been uttered Rebekah had made fake plans, squeezed Katherine's hand something that she had never done and stormed out of there, while Kol came down with the "stomach flu" and followed Rebekah.

So now the only ones having dinner in the dining room were Esther, Tatia, Elijah, and Katherine. Lovely.

"So it must have been a lovely wedding," Tatia said as she daintily put down her dinner fork. "How long have you two been married?"

"Only a few weeks." Elijah said. "My mother must have told you."

Tatia didn't miss a beat. "She did," she turned over to Katherine. "You're a very lucky woman, Katherine. Lots of women would kill for a man like Elijah."

"I know," Katherine shot back. "Thankfully, I didn't make any stupid mistakes and caused him to run away forever."

Tatia ignored the dig. "So what do you do, Katherine while Elijah is at home? It must be wonderful having all that free time."

Katherine clutched her fork. So she wasn't the most hardworking or responsible person did she have to bring it up. "Oh, I'm sure I will be plenty busy when the kids come."

Esther nearly choked on her water, while Elijah simply raised an eyebrow.

Tatia fumbled a little. "Of course, so are you pregnant?"

"No, but we're trying, very hard." She emphasize. "Come on, Elijah let's go home, I'm tired. Tatia, it was . . . interesting meeting you."

* * *

"Are you ok?" Elijah asked as he briefly looked at Katherine. He noticed that she had been very quiet during the entire ride and had focus more on looking out the window and clutching her bag than anything else.

It was obvious that things with Tatia hadn't gone well and it hadn't helped that Tatia has showed up unexpected.

"I'm fine." Katherine grumbled without looking at him.

Elijah didn't looked convinced, but he thought it was better if he didn't say anything. Katherine's next comment surprised him though.

"Though I can see why you fell for her," Katherine grumbled. "She's beautiful."

"Why, Mrs. Mikaelson are you jealous?" Elijah asked with a teasing tone in his voice. "I never thought I would live to see the day."

She rolled her eyes, though she was a slight blush coating her cheeks. "Very funny." She hesitated. "And I admit that I might be a little jealous, but remember this is only for a year if she wants to sink her claws a year after this, then fine."

Elijah's amused smile faded and he patted her hand. "Kat, that's not going to happen. Tatia cheated on me and I have no desire to go back to her. You don't have to worry about anything."

Katherine squirmed uncomfortably. "I'm not worried, I'm just-"

They stopped at a stop sign and Elijah leaned over and kissed her forehead. "You have nothing to worry about."

-End of Chapter Twenty One-


	22. No Room for Three

**22. No Room for Three**

"I'll be back, later," Katherine told Elijah the following Sunday. Elena had recently announced that she was moving in with Stefan and she asked for help to move her stuff to his palace so that they could clear out her dorm.

"Ok," Elijah said, he was dressed in jeans and a t shirt, which he was starting to do more often ever since he and Katherine got married, it didn't make it less weird though. "Do you want me to wait for you for dinner?"

She shook her head. "No, knowing Elena this is going to take a while. You order take out or something or go out with Kol."

Elijah shook his head. "Saturday night in his party day, knowing him he's probably still in bed nursing a hangover."

Katherine laughed, she had gone to enough parties with Kol to know that Elijah was right. Thankfully, after the disastrous dinner neither of them had heard a peep neither from Esther or Tatia and Katherine was starting to relax. Hopefully it would just be a onetime thing.

She hesitated before she landed a kiss on Elijah's lips, Elijah rubbed his fingers against her cheeks. "What was that for?" he murmured.

She smiled. "Just because."

* * *

". . . I mean you should have seen her, Elena." Katherine told her twin as she started throwing Elena's skirts and blouses into boxes without bothering to fold them and ignoring Elena's look of displeasure. "She was slobbering all over him!"

Elena let out a small laugh as she started disconnecting her computer. "Someone is jealous."

Katherine flushed, why was everyone accusing her of being jealous? Sure, she wanted to drag Tatia by her hair, but that did not mean that she was jealous. "I'm not jealous, I'm just-"

"You're jealous," Elena concluded. "And there's nothing wrong with being jealous, Katherine Elijah is quite a catch you know for a fake husband and all."

"Fine, just the thought of them being together makes my blood boil." She sighed as she sat on the twin bed. "How do I make it stop though? I can't believe I'm jealous over Elijah a few months ago I couldn't even stand the guy."

Elena shrugged. "People change, you shouldn't be embarrassed." She frowned. "How did Tatia even get in the picture?"

Katherine let out a snort. "You should blame, Mommy dearest. Apparently she doesn't like me and she and Tatia are all buddy-buddy now. She invited us to dinner saying that she had a surprise and that surprise ended up being more like a nightmare."

Elena winced. "Ow."

"Tell me about it." Katherine groaned. "If you ever get married to Stefan, be glad that his parents are dead."

"That's not funny."

"Sorry."

* * *

Elijah had to admit that the apartment was lonely without Katherine, it was just too big for one person, not to mention that the only sound was coming from the TV even Baby was curled up in her doggy bed.

Elijah looked at the clock, it was only ten o'clock, it was a little late, but knowing Katherine she and her sister talked non-stop when they were together and they hadn't seen each other in a while.

Someone knocked on the door and Elijah stood up confused. He found Tatia wearing a short black dress that clung sexily to her body and with her dark hair lose around her shoulders. She grinned goofily at Elijah and it took him a few seconds to realize that she was drunk.

"Tatia?" he stammered. "What are-"

"Oh, come on Elijah," she slurred as she let herself in. "Is that any way to treat a lady?"

"What are you doing here?" Elijah shook his head. "You can't be here, which hotel are you staying at, I'll drive you?"

Tatia rolled her eyes as she settled down on the couch. "Come on, Elijah don't be mean . . . I'm so tired and the hotel was called Monty of something-"her brown eyes closed and with a few seconds she was snoring.

Elijah sighed, there was no way that he could take her out without dragging her out. He pulled a blanket over her. Hopefully Katherine would come back in a good mood and wouldn't recognize her or maybe she would go blind and not notice that someone was sleeping on their couch. Elijah could only hope.

* * *

Tatia had to pretend to be asleep for one hour before Elijah turned off the lights and headed to bed and it was much harder than it looked since Tatia couldn't risk falling asleep. She couldn't help but smirk, after all these years Elijah still hadn't changed, he was so gullible, always the knight in shining armor which made him much easier to fool.

She shouldn't have gotten rid of him in the first place, she looked at the kitchen clock and saw that it was nearly midnight. What kind of wife did Elijah have that she stayed out all night? Oh, no matter Tatia could always do what she had to do with or without her presence.

She pushed the door of Elijah's bedroom open and saw him deep asleep, perfect. She took off her shoes and walked towards him and laid down next to him. "Katherine." He whispered, but thankfully he didn't open his eyes.

Tatia smiled as she tried to make her voice sound like Katherine's. "I'm here."

* * *

Katherine opened the door of the apartment and saw that the lights were turned off, Elijah must have gone to bed already, not that Katherine could blame him, it was almost midnight and she and Elena had spent too much time sister boding.

She opened the door of their room and stopped short. There were two lumps on the bed. Elijah with his arms around Tatia's waist. Fury and hurt swelled up in Katherine's chest, had they slept together? In her own house? In their own room?

No, Elijah would never- she shook her head. She should have figure out that him being a gentleman was all part of his charm. She wanted to scream and kick and cry out. But she didn't. Instead she closed the door and went back to Elena's.

-End of Chapter Twenty Two-


	23. Explanation

**23. Explanation**

Elijah woke up feeling completely confuse and out of place as his eyes opened and he realized that his arms were wrapped around a woman. A fully clothed woman, who was obviously not his wife. He pulled away quickly as he sat up and stared at Tatia who was just starting to wake up.

"Good morning," Tatia said sweetly as if they woke up next to each other every day.

"What are you doing here?" he demanded. Then he remembered that she had come to him drunk, but he remembered leaving her sleeping on the couch, he surely didn't remember or felt her crawling into bed with him. Shit. He doubted that Katherine was conveniently sleeping on the couch, waiting for them to wake up.

Elijah was actually surprise that Tatia was still alive, especially since he had seen how Katherine can be when she's jealous.

"Oh, come on Elijah don't act like we've never seen each other before." Tatia smiled at him as she sat up and started putting on her shoes. "If you do recall we had many sleepovers together."

"Yes, years ago when we were dating," Elijah snapped trying to keep his temper in check. "Whatever we had Tatia it's a thing of the past. I am a married man, whether you like it or not."

Tatia blinked. "Really? And where is your adoring wife?"

"She-"Elijah droned off, he had no idea where Katherine was or if she even knew that Tatia had stayed. If she did knew, then she was probably planning their murders.

Tatia smiled in satisfaction. "See a true wife, wouldn't have leave you all alone and made you worry." She walked closer towards him and petted his cheek. "A good wife, would have stayed with you, and listen to you and love you-"she trailed off and was just about to kiss him when Elijah pulled away.

He pointed towards the door. "Get out," when Tatia didn't budge he continued. "Get out Tatia, there is nothing and will never be something between us. That part of our lives are over. You made sure of that."

Tatia gulped, but she stared back at him. "Is that your final word?"

"It is," Elijah said. "I'm happily married."

"To her," Tatia emphasize in a voice that Elijah didn't like. "What do you see in her? Your mother is right, you really are a hopeless fool."

Elijah smiled in quiet satisfaction as Tatia closed the door. He grabbed his phone and was somewhat disappointed when he saw that he didn't have neither a missed call nor even a text from his so called loving wife. Where had she been all night long?

He called her, but when she didn't answer, he dialed her twin. If anyone knew where she was, it was Elena. After a few minutes, Elena answered. "Hello?"

Elijah couldn't help but noticed that her voice was icy and unattached, which was weird. Elijah and Elena had only had a few conversations, but she had always been polite and nice to him.

"Elena, hi, it's Elijah."

Silence.

"It's Katherine there? Did she sleep over?"

What Elena said next clearly caught him off guard. "How dare you call here after everything? How dare you? You little-"Elijah's eyes widened at the word that Elena called him that he almost dropped his phone. "Elena what are you talking about?"

"Don't play dumb," Elena hissed. "I knew your marriage was fake, but still how could you do that to Katherine, in her own house and with Tatia."

Crap. So she had seen. "Elena, it's a misunderstanding, you have to believe me." He said in a hurried voice. "Where is she? Does anyone else know?"

"No," Elena said, her voice still cold. "She's on her way to Bulgaria on an extended visit to visit our Aunt Nadia, she told our parents that the marriage didn't work. I hope you're happy."

"It wasn't me!" Elijah said, his irritation getting the best of him. "Where is she? Let me talk to her."

Elena hesitated. "She isn't here, Elijah." She continued. "She left at dawn this morning, she's probably in Bulgaria right now."

"What?" Elijah said. "No, she can't be!"

Hearing the sincerity in his voice, Elena whispered. "I'm sorry," she was about to hang up when Elijah interrupted her.

"Wait, can you give me the address?"

_Bulgaria_

"This is Heaven," Katherine said in perfect Bulgaria as her Aunt Nadia handed her a cup of tea with honey while she looked around the little cottage. Even though she had been here for less than a day, it was already starting to feel like home. The cottage was cozy and snug and Katherine could envision spending a few weeks here. Heck, if it meant that she would be far, far away from Elijah she would go to Antarctica.

Leaving America had been a brash and maybe even a stupid decision, but Katherine didn't care. It didn't even matter anymore. She didn't have anything in America besides her family. She settled back into the cozy arm chair, the picture of Elijah with his arms around Tatia was still fresh on her mind. She gripped the tea cup and it took every ounce of strength that she had not to hurl it at the wall.

How dare Elijah do that to her? Yes, she knew very well that her marriage was fake, but hadn't they agreed to be in a sort of relationship? Boy did he break his promises easily.

"What's bothering you Katherine?" Nadia said wisely. "It's about a boy isn't it?"

"Gee, however did you guess?"

Nadia laughed. "Well, boys have always cause the most trouble, not to mention that you're easy to read. Why don't you tell me about it? About your husband, the one that your parents talked about?"

Katherine grumbled. "They told you didn't they?"

Nadia was about to respond when the doorbell rang, she saw Nadia leave towards the door, Katherine's back to her. When she didn't hear Nadia holding a conversation she simply thought it was the mailman and she continued her conversation.

"I mean Elijah, may be all charming and sweet when he wants too, but he can also be a manipulative, two face-"

"Why Katherine I'm so glad that you find me charming." Elijah said as he stepped into the room, much to Katherine's disappointment and scowl. Even after a long flight he still managed to look perfect. Suit, well combed hair, and her puppy Baby in hand. Her Aunt Nadia traveled behind her, giving her a guilty smile. Katherine placed her hands on her hips. "What are you doing here?" she snapped.

Elijah ignored her question before handing the puppy to Nadia. "May we be alone for a second?"

Nadia nodded before throwing Katherine a be-nice glare that Katherine returned

When her aunt was out of the room, she turned back to Elijah. "Well, are you just going to stand there? Didn't you hear me, what are you doing here?"

"You ran off," Elijah said calmly. "We need to talk."

"In Bulgaria?" she demanded furiously. "You came here to talk?"

"Well, you didn't exactly leave me a choice, Katherine!" Elijah finally lost his temper. "Right after you ran off like that, without a goodbye or an explanation."

"Oh, I'm sorry I didn't want to wake up your precious Tatia to say goodbye!" Katherine said furiously. "Why are you even here anyway? Do you need a mistress?"

"You're not making sense, Katherine." Elijah said trying to control his anger. "Tatia arrived drunk and fell asleep on our couch, she must have sneaked back to our room when I was asleep. You know I'm a heavy sleeper."

Katherine suspiciously cocked her head to the side. "Then you two didn't sleep together?"

He shook her head. "We didn't I swear, I kicked her out and I can assure you we won't see her again," when Katherine didn't say anything he made a little joke. "We still haven't finished our marriage contract."

"Very funny," Katherine's face began to relax. "So you weren't cheating on me with her?"

Elijah shook his head. "Never," he patted her cheek. "I would never do that to you, Katherine."

Katherine flushed. "Whatever do you think that with your charms and your dog and traveling over here that you can make it up-"Elijah stopped her ranting by kissing her. "What was that for?" she breathed.

"I love you, Katherine." He murmured. "I'm sorry if I hurt you, I didn't mean too . . . and I know that this is sudden and I should have been clear by the start . . . but I'm in love with you and you can either stay here and I'll leave or you can come back with me and we can start our lives together."

Katherine lowered her head. "Elijah."

"Katherine," Elijah whispered. "Give me another chance please, come back home with me."

Katherine raised her head and whispered. "Just you and me?"

Elijah squeezed her hand and kissed her forehead. "Just you and me."

**The End**

Thank you so much to everyone for your reviews, reading, and support!


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